Occam's Razor
by Tynan
Summary: Three years ago Relena Peacecraft vanished without a trace. Since then Earth has been plagued by war, terror campaigns, and biological attacks. Amid total chaos those she left behind are trying desperately to restore the world she worked so hard to build.
1. The Memory of Destruction Suffered

Occam's Razor

Chapter One - The Memory of Destruction Suffered

Tynan

Alright, so you may have noticed that this is my first one of these. Here are the first two chapters which are obviously a bit of a set-up, I promise things will get very different from here on out. Also, as is standard: I obviously do not own any of the elements used in this story.

Heero Yuy leaned back in his chair and looked out the door of his office. Several of the younger officers were standing around a desk gawking at a menu as they prepared to order their dinner. It was incomprehensible to him that anyone could desire food on this day. Sitting up again, he glared down at the case file in front of him, well part of it anyway. The file was possibly the largest ever put together in the Preventer's five year history; the rest of it was piled up on various parts of his desk. He started blankly at the words on the paper in front of him barely registering what they meant. In truth he need not have looked at the file at all. After three years of reading every word over and over again he knew nearly all 10,962 pages by heart, having typed a fair share of them himself. He knew that nothing had changed on these pages; there had been no additions to the file for almost a year and a half now, the tips had stopped coming in, the task force had been dissolved, and case was considered closed. He knew all these things, but on this day he felt especially obligated to pour over them in the hopes of finding even the tiniest of clues, anything that could give him a lead to go off of and reopen the case. Witness statements, surveillance camera footage, forensic reports, evidence logs, lists of tips and suspects, findings sheets, and reports written by Agents and Officers lay in piles before him. None of them changed anything; he knew any hope of recovery had long since faded. Sighing a little louder than he intended to, Heero began putting the papers sprawled out before him back into a neat pile.

"Hey buddy."

Heero mentally chided himself for not hearing the arrival of Duo Maxwell, who was not notorious for entering a room quietly. He turned to the man standing in his door looking him over from head to toe. Duo's long braid hung down his back, his eyes were still as bright as ever but they now held a weary touch one did not typically find in such a young man. His face looked tired; Heero knew the look well at this point as a similar one often greeted him in the mirror. Duo watched Heero's quick scan of him with mild interest and plopped himself down in the chair opposite Heero's desk. "Well don't I at least get a 'Hello'?"

"Hello Duo."

"Wow, that was something. Did you hurt yourself on that one buddy?"

"What do you want Duo?"

Duo gave a small laugh. "Some guys never change, always straight to business with you, and here I was about to extend the offer for a little pleasure."

Heero turned his head towards Duo and met him with a questioning expression. Duo seemed to have realized what he had just said and began sputtering and nearly fell off his seat. "N-No, not, t-that's not what I meant." He stopped and gave a small sigh. "Look Heero, Hilde, Quatre, Dorothy, Trowa, Catherine, and I are all getting together tonight. You know, go find a bar, have a few rounds in remembrance and all. You should come with us. Sitting here all night reading this stuff isn't going to change anything . . ." He trailed off.

Duo wasn't entirely sure that Heero was actually paying attention to him. After a moment of silence Heero looked up at him as if to check and make sure he was done talking. "I'm not going to stay here all night."

"You're not?" Duo's remark came out sounding slightly more surprised than he intended it to.

"No." Even as he said this Heero began put the files into desk drawers and lock them. Duo sat in the chair an only watched him, somewhat stunned.

"So are you going to come out with us then?"

"No."

"So what is it exactly that you're going to do then?"

"Hn." Heero stood up and pushed his chair under his desk. Duo continued to stare at him as he took his Agent's jacket off the rack by the door. Heero would never admit to the fact that he was actually considering Duo's offer now. The idea of sitting in his apartment brooding all night had never been that appealing but he had nothing else to do. On the other hand, spending the night at a bar watching his friends get slobbering drunk recounting days long since gone wasn't all that high on his list either. As he moved his badge from his shirt to the front of his jacket he continued to consider this dilemma. "Quatre and Dorothy are on Earth again?"

Duo started a little at this question. Somehow telling Heero that he had asked the two of them to come in hopes of making his offer more attractive didn't seem like a good idea. "Yeah well, you know Wicked Brows, she's an Earthling if ever there was one. I mean she likes space and all, but I guess she really craves that whole terra firma thing. I think she secretly is a little on edge in the colonies, course she'd never admit to it, knows I'd never let her hear the end of it. Big, bad Dorothy Catalonia afraid of outer space."

"It's Earth she should be afraid of now, she'd probably be safer on the colonies."

Duo smiled sadly. "Yeah, never thought we'd see the day huh?"

Heero turned to Duo, who was now staring at the floor in front of him. The man in front of him was not the same he had met those six year ago. They had all changed, especially in the past two years. At 22 years old Duo was still the same joker he had been; always walking around with the same goofy smile, same twinkle in his eyes, cracking jokes whenever the opportunity presented itself. Sadly, those opportunities had become few and far between. The strain had been felt by all of them but for some reason it stood out most in Duo. Maybe it was because of his cheery demeanor, something the rest of them had never really possessed, that he had had the most room to change. Heero looked at his friends now and saw somber, battle weary people.

They were all very different; even himself who for the first time in his life was beginning to feel the effects of constant fighting. He had never before fought beside other people, certainly no one that he could call a friend and he supposed that might have something to do with it. He had friends now, people he cared about, people he did not want to see get hurt. This was something that his training had never prepared him for. The horribly images he would see and the terrible decisions he would have to make were one thing when it was only him that he had to worry about. Six years ago they would barely have registered with him; charred, mangled, and bullet ridden bodies were nothing new. What changed that was knowing who the person was, working with them, fighting with them, and then watching them die; caring about what happened to other people had changed that, it changed him. The decisions he made were no longer ones that would always yield the best outcome; now they were the ones that kept his friends and comrades safe and alive. It had taken him entirely too long to realize that a life alone was no life to live, and he had paid a terrible price to finally learn this. The last day of their lives could be any given time in this day and age, time with the people you cared about was not something that should be squandered. He again regarded the man in front of him; Duo Maxwell, the best friend he had ever had and the only person he trusted more than himself. "So where are we going?"

Duo immediately straightened up and turned to Heero with a huge grin on his face. "O'Malley's, you know the place over in Old City." He saw Heero about to open his mouth. "Don't worry, they've cleaned up the area, it was the building across the street that got hit, O'Malley's is still in one piece. We're all meeting in about half an hour."

Heero sighed in spite of himself. He knew why Duo had picked this particular bar, it was always her favorite place for an after work drink. "I'll be a little late."

"Oh, right. Okay, well we'll be waiting for ya. Just be careful man, it's been quiet today and all, but you know how things get on anniversary days. Every nut job with a vendetta decides to make this the day they're going to get their point across."

He stood up as Heero turned off the lights and they made their way to the elevator bank. The various officers and agents sitting at their desks barely noticed them as they past, all of them too engrossed in whatever it was they were working on. As they waited in the elevator Heero began trying to think of the nearest place he could get some flowers that was still open. They made their way through the lobby, flashing their badges and walking around the security check point. As they got to the front doors, Heero shouldered his bag and turned to say good-bye to Duo.

"Oh, yeah Heero, it's civilian attire only at O'Malley's. After what happened across the street, he doesn't want anyone attracting a lot of attention in his place, and well, bunch of people in Preventer's uniforms . . ."

------

Heero made his way down the street carrying a dozen Calla Lilies. People skirted out of his way some casting a frightened glance at his uniform, some simply hurrying to their own destination. Picking up his pace a bit he rounded the corner at the end of the street. The huge black gate before him was now locked and had been since sunset several hours ago. He stared at the small piles of cut flowers heaped against the sides of the gate; apparently he wasn't the only person unable to visit during the day. Tucking the flowers into his pocket as best he could he pulled himself up and over that gate landing softly on the other side.

It was like stepping into another world, everywhere before him were candles lending their glow to the dark, illuminating countless memorials and markers, many of them covered in flowers. He strode across the damp grass towards the back of the cemetery. The memorial he was looking for was shrouded by a large Weeping Willow tree. The actual plaque was barely visible under small mountain of flowers that had been deposited there that day, candles, stuffed animals, and religious icons littered the ground around it for a radius of several feet, but there was a small path that had been cleared that led to the actual memorial.

Heero walked closer to the marker; he saw the offerings his friends had left earlier in the day: A dozen pure white roses left by Millardio Peacecraft, a bottle of Baileys placed by Hilde, a Chinese talisman from Wufei and Sally, a rosary no doubt left by Duo, a smiling mask that could only have come from Trowa or Catherine, and a small vial of red sand Heero knew that Dorothy and Quatre had brought back from Mars. These things were the only ones laid on the actual monument; a three foot marble obelisk with a dove etched into the front. Underneath the craving read the simple inscription:

In Memorial of Relena Darlian Peacecraft

Heero stood before the stone marker considering its surrounding company of the dead. To call it a grave would be inaccurate for it did not designate a final resting place, there was no body beneath this earth. There had been nothing to bury, no one to actually say goodbye to, and no way to be sure that this person was truly dead. However after three years, there was absolutely nothing to indicate she was still alive either. People do not typically disappear for three years and suffer no harm, especially people like her.

Heero laid his flowers next to the other things his friends had left; he paused for a moment before taking the small teddy bear from his jacket pocket and laying it next to the flowers. It was hard to believe that she had been gone for three years. Protecting her had been one of his only two failures and in his life long career as a soldier, the second had been not finding her. The disappearance had been unprecedented, baffling every agency that had volunteered their services; never had there been such a high-profile case that left so few clues. There was nothing to even indicate where to start looking, and to this day Heero could not even come up with a well conceived educated guess detailing what happened to her. That night three years ago, it had all been a blur but he would never forget a single second of it. The night Relena Peacecraft vanished off the face of the planet.


	2. Prelude to a Revolution

Okay, here's chapter two for real this time; for some reason I couldn't get it to load last night. As an FYI this chapter is obviously a bit longer and possibly a bit dry, but sadly a necessary evil for back ground info. Thank you for the reviews and encouragement, hope this will meet your expectations in the end. And again, I don't own these guys.

As a side note (I forgot to mention this earlier) for anyone who is interested or curious Occam's Razor is a principle concocted by a 14th century Franciscan monk named William of Ockham. He stated that 'entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity'; in other words the simplest solution is usually the best one.

Occam's Razor

Chapter Two – Prelude to a Revolution

Tynan

It was 10:30 PM; after what had proved to be a very long two weeks Heero sat on his couch typing away furiously at his laptop. A strange noise suddenly came to his attention and it took him a minute to register that it was his cell phone vibrating against the kitchen counter in the next room. He had been off duty for three hours now, but it was not that which inclined him to ignore the call; it was knowing that the person on the other end could only be Duo Maxwell wanting to pester him about something. The fact that the phone was vibrating and not ringing meant that the person calling was not from Preventers and that it was not her. Duo and several others had a special ring, or lack of a ring as it were, all to themselves. All this considerably narrowed down the possible people who could be on the other end. As the cell phone stopped vibrating, Heero clicked open a news web-site reasoning that if there was something serious taking place it would be on there; the lead story dealt with a sex scandal that had been uncovered on L4.

On the counter the cell phone began to vibrate yet again. Even if it was just Duo, calling twice in a row was a bit persistent even for him. He set his laptop on the couch beside him and walked into the next room to retrieve the still vibrating device. Flipping it open he held to his ear and answered with his usual "This is Agent Yuy."

A startled sounding sort of noise came from the other end, and then after a moment the person asked: "Heero?"

It was indeed Duo Maxwell. Heero was surprised however, that his voice did not hold its usual happy, bouncy quality; instead he sensed a tone of . . . could that be panic? The seconds of silence that followed immediately told Heero there was something seriously wrong. "Duo, what is it?"

------

Heero flew down the front stairs that led to the driveway of his townhouse apartment and ripped open the garage door directly underneath them. He began to go for his car, parked on the right hand side but instead stopped and began pulling the tarp off of the motorcycle next to it. He had not taken it out in almost a year, but it would get him there faster.

Driving to the Peacecraft Manor was a blur of screeching horns, red lights, and shattered traffic laws. Heero did not bother to stop and flash his badge to the security guard at the front gate who must have been told he was coming as the gate was already open for him. He did not slow down until he reached the front of the Manor. Leaping off the bike he let it fall on its side onto the lawn and bolted into the front door; the two Preventers officers standing there did not make a move to try and stop him.

The scene inside was expected but surreal; as he entered Duo immediately broke away from his conversation at the other end of the room and began walking towards him. Heero continued to survey the room even as Duo started talking to him. He and Duo were apparently the first ones who had made it here; Wufei had been on duty tonight and he was here as well, standing at the bottom of the stair in the grand entrance being yelled at by Zechs. Even from 25 feet away, Heero could see the panic on Zech's face; Wufei also looked stricken but was making a better effort at holding himself together. By their feet, sitting huddled on the stairs was Noin; her eyes were red and watery and she seemed to be shaking a bit despite the warm summer air. Duo was still talking but Heero had heard none of it. "Duo, in one sentence, what happened?"

"She's gone! That's all there is to say; Wufei went to look in on her and activate the alarm before she went to bed and she was just gone."

Heero tried to compose himself; none of this made any sense. He had personally designed the security system for the Manor, no one could simply walk in and out of any part of it. There was no way she could have been taken, nor could she have left on her own without someone knowing. "She must still be in the Manor somewhere. Why are all of you standing around here instead of looking, and why hasn't a tactical squad gotten here yet?"

"Heero, she's not here man! We've looked everywhere. And backup is on the way, it's almost 11:00, they got to wake a lot of people up and we only called twenty minute ago."

"If it's only been twenty minutes then there's no way you could have looked everywhere."

Duo had expected this reaction out of Heero, but he did not appreciate the insinuation that he was not acting to his fullest capacity not only as and Agent, but as a friend. "What do you want from me? She's not here! She went into her room, Wufei went in there about an hour later and she was gone. He started checking the Manor thinking that she might have gone downstairs for something, but she's not here. And no, we haven't checked every nook and cranny but I really don't think she's hiding in a broom closet, watching us run around, and laughing." Duo looked as though he was going to keep going, but Wufei had appeared beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.

Heero knew that Duo was right, but his years of experience had taught him to always assume the worst. "I'm not suggesting that she is. Someone else could be there with her, forced her out of her room and hid with her somewhere to wait everyone in the Manor when to look for her and was clear of people. Then they take her out with no one looking. We should start searching the place immediately."

It could have been his imagination, but Heero swore that Wufei looked slightly startled at the notion of the Manor's resident being held hostage right under their noses. Just as quickly as the expression had come, it again vanished and Wufei finally spoke, sounding more than a little irritated. "Yuy, just wait one minute. Dispatch just called, the investigation team and lab technicians will be here any second. They'll be able to do a thorough search without compromising anything."

Heero was getting angry now, it was beyond him that the four people in this room had been standing around wasting precious time that should be used for scowering every inch of this house. "Why are we waiting for team of lab rats? What are they possibly going to do and what do you think we could compromise in this place?"

Duo was finally no longer able to hold in the outburst that had been cut short Wufei's intrusion into his last one. "Heero, she's not here! Wufei searched her room, and unless she's somehow managed to fit herself into a desk draw she's not in there! There are security tapes that cover every inch of that door and outside of the house under her windows, and the roof directly above them. I just watched them and the last person to go in or out of any of them was her; the next person to show up on the screen is Wufei going in there and when he did the room was empty. No one could have gotten her out of her room and into some other part of the house, there's just no way!"

"Obviously there is! Something happened, the cameras must have been tampered with. And if they were someone could have taken her from there without anyone knowing, but there's no way they could have gotten off the grounds without being seen. The security in the Manor is lighter than around the perimeter - " A though struck him. "And you never told me what you intend to do with a lab team, the crime scene unit can wait an hour."

He turned to Wufei but at that moment a small army of people in Preventer's jackets began filing through the door. Right behind them was a group of eight people wearing medical uniforms, Sally Po was with them. She made a beeline for Heero, as she walked Zechs and Noin dashed over from the steps to join them. She paused for a moment as if waiting for an order, when none came she turned to Wufei. "Well?"

"Up the stairs, straight down the hall and into the residential area. Her room is the second set of double doors on the right."

"And nobody has been in there?"

"No one, I made sure of it."

Heero watched Sally shoulder the rather large, heavy looking black bag she was carrying slightly astonished that she could lift if. For some reason she looked smaller; no, it was that her clothes seemed to be hanging off of her. "Alright, you know where I'll be; however, no one is to come into the room until we've cleared it." With that she pulled a small mask from her bag and fitted it over her face; it covered her mouth and nose. She the donned a pair of lightly tinted goggles over that.

Heero looked behind her to see the other seven people doing the same. He was not used to not being completely in charge of a situation and was prepared to take it out on the person standing nearest to him. He rounded on Duo. "What is all this for?"

Duo opened his mouth to answer but Wufei beat him to it. "When I was checking the room I started to smell something. Like chemicals or solvents. It didn't seem to have an affect me, but if the lab techs can figure out what it is maybe it will give us something to go on."

The masked, goggled, and gloved people had already disappeared up the steps. The other team of Preventers had finished dragging in several large pieces of equipment and were now setting them up. One of them, a man Heero recognized as Officer Carl Brandon was walking towards him. Heero turned to the man, now fully prepared to take control of the situation.

-----

Heero let his head fall back against the seat in Duo's car. It was a little after one o'clock in the morning and after over two hours they had not made any sort of measurable progress. The driver's side door opened and Duo climbed in having just finished talking to Wufei in Heero's place. Two hours of work and nothing being accomplished in a case this big was not something Heero took to lightly, for the first time in a long time his temper had gotten the better of him and Wufei and the lab technician he was with were on the receiving end. His last clear memory was Duo interrupting him; he must have moved him to his car and gone back to Wufei, leaving Heero alone with his thoughts. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, his mind had been racing too much to notice. He turned to Duo. "Well?"

"'Well' what? It's every available person back to HQ, you're the one who gave the order."

Heero felt his temper starting to rise again; Duo must have noticed because he quickly jumped into an explanation. "The techs don't have anything new to tell us yet, half of them are heading back to the lab now to start working on what they collected. Hopefully they'll be able to tell us something in a couple of hours."

"And God knows where she could be by then." Heero muttered more to himself than Duo.

Duo glanced over at his friend. To say that he had never seen him like this was the understatement of the century, Duo would never have guessed that Heero was capable of being like this. The two hours that had passed since he first arrived had been chaotic to say the least. Heero handled the situation with the command and planning an agent of his experience and caliber should be expected to; however he was starting to lose his cool, he'd left that little lab technician almost in tears. Duo knew that this was the result of the overwhelming feeling of frustration and helpless they were all feeling; he also knew that if he was going crazy Heero must have been near death. "Heero, buddy, don't worry. We'll find her."

"Hn." Heero turned to look out the window and up to front of the Manor not wanting to meet Duo's eyes. The past two hours had been a blur. Within 15 minutes Sally's team had deemed the room to be safe. Heero had been the first one in pushing four of the techs out of the way in the hall; he wasn't sure what exactly he was expecting to find. The first though that registered with him was that there was a faint smell of chemicals. He looked around wildly for Sally and found her standing next to the bed taking off her mask and goggles. Heero registered with a sinking feeling the teddy bear that was perched neatly between the pillows. Pushing it out of his mind he looked back to Sally, "Did you figure out what that smell is?"

She didn't even look up to answer as one of the lab technicians handed her a clip board. "Whatever it is it's not toxic. That's about all I can say for now." She signed the piece of paper on the top and handed it back to the man in front of her. Four of the technicians were still in the room; all of them had removed their gas masks and goggles and were now wearing simple doctor's masks and caps covering their hair. Sally was packing up some of their equipment and what looked like several cases of evidence. The other four were in various parts of the large suite with spray bottles containing something blue going over ever inch of the room.

"Did you find anything?"

"Nothing that I would call particularly suspicious; there's no blood that we can see, no signs of a struggle or break in. We'll know more in a minute." She gestured to the four people with the spray bottles.

"Is that Luminol?"

"Yeah, it should show us if there was any blood that was cleaned up, even if it was bleached. That could be what the smell is." Sally pulled something out of her bag and handed it to Heero. He turned it over and found it to be a small light.

Heero stopped to consider this, but one of the techs announced that they were ready. Sally looked up from her bag. "Good, get the lights." At first no one moved, until a small lab technician with the ends of short black hair poking out of her hair net realized that she was the one being addressed quickly jumped up and moved to where the light switch was.

The room went black, Heero could hear the sound of people slowly moving around. He too was scanning the room but did not see anything. Then from the bathroom someone called that they found something. Heero and Sally both tried to get through the door at the same time, but after a second of confusion both managed to get inside. On the edge of the bathtub was a small spot, about the size of a quarter, that was glowing blue. He continued to look around, "There's nothing else in here?"

The tech looked up at him. "No, that's all I found. I know it's not much, but it's something right?"

"It might not be anything." Sally interrupted. "This is her bathroom, she could have cut herself shaving her legs, or was cleaning up a scrape or cut. Just because there's blood doesn't mean there's a crime here."

Heero felt himself starting to get angry yet again. "What the hell do you mean that there's been no crime here? She's missing, obviously something happened. She wouldn't have just left without taking . . ." He stopped talking as Sally and the other man said nothing, they just started; Heero knew that Sally was simply startled by his outburst, the man kneeling on the floor however look terrified.

Sally stood and walked out of the room making a sign that Heero should follow her. She shouted back to the tech to try and get whatever he could off the bathtub and personally take it to the lab and run the tests. "Heero, we've got it up here. You need to go take control of things downstairs. We'll let you know the second we find anything."

He knew that she was right and after again making it clear he should be the first one to know anything began to walk towards the door. He heard the bathroom doors open and the man from before tell Sally he was leaving for the lab. Not really paying attention to where he was going he tripped over the black haired girl from before who scurried out of his way as quickly as she could while keeping her eyes on the floor and continued to comb the carpet.

Flinging open the door Heero stepped into the hallway to see Zechs seated on a couch across from the door. Heero expected the man to jump up and begin berating him for his negligence, Lord knows he deserved it; but he did not move, he only continued to sit there with his head in his hands. The thought struck Heero that this was probably the first time he had ever felt sorry for Millardo Peacecraft; however not sorry enough to stop and talk to him, especially not when there was work to be done. As he came down the steps and into the entrance hall he saw that the entire room and the ones adjacent to it had been transformed into a mobile command post. Duo was standing with Officer Brandon who seemed to be telling him something. As soon as he spotted Heero he broke away and walked over to him. "Well?"

"Nothing, one spot of blood that had been cleaned up, but God knows how long that's been there. Anything on your search?"

"Not a single thing out of place. The guards saw nothing, none of the alarms were tampered with, no one is in the house that shouldn't been here, and all of the cameras having been working all night." He stepped a bit closer and lowered his voice. "Any chance this was, ya know, an inside job?"

Heero almost grimaced, the thought had definitely crossed his mind, but he just didn't see how. Even if there was someone on the inside, he didn't see how they could pull of something like this. There would have to be an investigation into everyone that had dealings with her security, but for now it was more important to put the lock down into effect. "Officer Brandon."

The man had been waiting behind them as if knowing he would be summoned. "We've shut down all the air and space ports in a 200 mile radius, check points are being set up on every major road going out of the city, all trains are being searched before they are allowed to leave the station, local law enforcement is being as helpful as they can. The guys back at headquarters are trying to come up with a list credible threats we've received in the past eight months to see if anything sticks out. We've already interviewed everyone that was here tonight; her brother, sister-in-law, the butler, and Agent Chang. None of them saw anything and I don't see a reason not to believe them. The security detail has been removed and taken to headquarters for questioning and a polygraph. No one has claimed responsibility and there haven't been any ransom demands. All that's left to do is to step up teams to start doing a search."

"Get them set up then. Figure out a grid and work this out systematically, the last thing we need right now is any confusion and wasted manpower."

He began to walk away but Officer Brandon interrupted him. "Oh and sir, Commander Une asked me to let you know she's on her way and um, well that she'll be expecting a full report from you personally."

'Fantastic.' Heero thought to himself. He had too much to be doing to spend half an hour explaining that they knew nothing. "Duo, where's Wufei?"

"Upstairs with Sally I think. Uh, hey Heero, wait up a sec." Duo trotted over to the bottom of the stairs to catch up with him before saying quietly: "I don't think this is his fault."

"I didn't say that it was."

"Yeah I know, but I mean have you ever seen him like this? He's just as shocked as the rest of us, don't grill him right now. If he knew something he would have told us."

"For his own sake I hope so." Heero made a move towards the stairs but was stopped by someone grabbing his arm. Turning only his head he was met with a red-eyed and very pale Lucrezia Noin. She didn't say anything so he spoke. "We haven't found anything yet Noin."

She still didn't speak and instead turned her eyes toward the floor. Finally she said in a very soft voice "Heero, be honest with me, we're not going to find her are we?"

The thought had been in the back of Heero's mind all night, but he refused to let himself think it. It had been over an hour since he had gotten Duo's phone call and she'd now been gone for anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours, no one was claiming responsibility, there wasn't even a sign of a struggle, and the only thing they had to go off of was a single drop of blood and some chemical-like fumes. Heero never thought himself one to immediately deem any situation hopeless, but even so soon into the investigation this case was beginning to look it, they should have had at least some sort of a clue by now.

He started to speak to reassure her that of course they would find her, he would do everything in his power to bring her back safely but Noin had already begun to walk up the steps, no doubt to join her husband. He had started to follow her but stopped as the sound of commanding footsteps came to the front door and into the entrance hall. He never had thought that he'd be hoping for a ransom demand.

"Where the hell do you think you're going Agent Yuy?!"

Turning to face her a little faster than he meant to, Heero looked down the stairs to be met with the only glare in all of the Preventer's Agency more infamous than his own. To the unfamiliar eye the tall, slender Commander Une appeared to be a friendly face; those that had been on the receiving end of her temper knew better. "Correct me it I'm wrong Agent Yuy, but I believe I sent over orders that you should be waiting to brief me as soon as I arrived here."

Heero said nothing, there was no point in arguing. Commander Une gave him an impatient shrug, "Well?"

Heero eyed the room to be sure that none of the dozens of people there were specifically watching them before subtly jerking his head to indicate that she should follow him up the stairs in a moment and then said in a voice loud enough for those around him to hear: "I'll see what I can find out for you Commander."

He made it to the top of the stairway and found Zechs exactly where he had left him, now joined by his wife. Somehow it seemed rude to intrude upon them, but there was no time to worry about niceties. "Zechs, is your office clean?"

The older man lifted his head to meet his eyes. "What?" The look on his face was not what Heero had expected; there was no sign of anger, only confusion and grief.

"Your office, is it clean? I need a secure place to brief Une."

"She's here?"

"Yes, I am." came a voice from behind them. "Millardo, would you and Lucrezia be so kind as to join Agent Yuy and myself?"

They filed into Zechs' office and Commander Une shut the door behind them. "Agent Chang will be joining us any minute, we'll wait until he gets here."

As if on cue there was a sharp knock on the door and Wufei entered the room. Une closed the door behind him. "All of you have a seat." They did so. "I'm already up to date on everything that's happened, Agent Chang was good enough to brief over a secure line on my way here and I have been receiving reports myself. Nothing has come back from the lab, they still do not know what those fumes are and the blood type from the sample they collected matches hers; they'll know for sure once they run DNA.

What we know right now is nothing, which is why I want all of you here. Heero, you are in charge of the investigation. And you three are the last people to have seen her, I need you to give Agent Yuy and myself as accurate a timeline as possible and do not leave out anything. We'll start from when you parted ways with Agent Yuy at the airport."

Heero spoke up, "That was 7:00 pm. I left her with Agent Chang and her security detail, they were already in the car and I saw them drive away and I scanned the area after they left. I saw nothing out of the ordinary."

"And why didn't you see her home yourself?"

Heero shifted uncomfortably not sure how to answer this. After a moment he decided that sugar-coating things was not going to get them anywhere. "We'd had a disagreement, she requested that the agent in charge of her security at the Manor, Agent Maxwell, meet us at the airport. I called Duo from the plane, but Agent Chang was the one waiting for us."

He glanced over at Wufei who picked up the narrative. "Duo had car trouble on the highway on his way to the airport, he called back for another agent to escort her and I went. There was some traffic getting out the airport, it took us over an hour to get home."

"They walked in the door at 8:15." Noin added.

"Yes, Pagan had left some dinner for us - "

"Why isn't he here?" The interruption came from Heero.

Wufei continued, "Pagan wasn't actually here, he had gone to bed before we got home, apparently he wasn't feeling well."

Noin jumped in again, "He has been ill for a few days now, I don't think it's anything suspicious. Besides that, it's Pagan, his life is devoted to serving her. He would never . . ." She trailed off.

Une looked up from her notepad for a moment and asked Wufei to continue. "She ate with the security detail and Zechs and Noin. Again, there was nothing unusual or suspicious. A little after 9:00 she said she was going up to get a shower and get ready for bed, a little after that Zechs and Noin went up to bed and I started doing some work. The security detail went to their posts and about an hour after she had left I went up to there to make sure that she was going to sleep so I could activate the alarm for the residence hall.

I knocked on the door and there was no answer. When I went in she was not in there. I checked her office next door, then in the hall. I went to Zech's office to ask if he had seen her. He and Noin were in their bedroom, they hadn't seen her since she left the kitchen. We walked around the Manor calling her name, thinking that she may have just stepped out of her room for something. When we couldn't immediately find her we alerted the officers on detail that night, none of whom had seen her. I had one of them go back and look at the security tapes from all the doors and windows to her rooms. They informed me that no one had gone in or out of them; I put in the call just as Duo Maxwell was arriving."

"And Duo was coming here to relieve you?"

"Like I said, I was just covering for him." The annoyance in his voice was becoming apparent. "When Duo got he we had just started making calls. He is the one who called Yuy."

"And you know everything up until that point." Heero added.

Commander Une leaned against the back of the chair she was standing next to, she looked over her note pad one more time, removed her glasses and began cleaning them. "So nothing out the ordinary then?" The remark was met with silence which to took to mean 'no'. "Alright then, I don't need to tell all of you that right now is the most crucial time in this case. We'll continue to operate under standard protocol until - "

There were two simultaneous outbursts; one from Heero and the other for Zechs, who spoke for the first time since entering the room.

"Commander, nothing about this situation is standard."

"What the hell do you mean 'standard protocol'?! The girl is the Foreign Minister for God's sake!"

Noin stood and put a hand on her husband's shoulder but that did nothing to calm him. "My little sister has been kidnapped by Lord knows who and the best you can give her is standard protocol?! She's 19 years old and has already devoted herself to saving everyone else on this God forsaken planet! It's always everyone else's problems, every little crisis that arises, day after day, meetings, conferences, summits, and her job constantly ruling her life. A job she got, by the way, when the last guy who had it was assassinated. She has done nothing but serve humanity and gave up any chance she had at the life every other 19-year-old gets and for all this she gets taken from her home in the middle of the night and the best the government that she sold her soul to can do for her is 'standard protocol'?!"

Zechs brushed Noin's hand off of him and pushed Une out of the way to get to his desk. He punched a code into the keypad on the side, ripped open the second drawer, and extracted a black, leather bound portfolio. "I'm taking matters into my own hands now." And with that was out the door, Noin close behind him.

It was a second before anyone spoke. "I agree with him completely."

Une and Wufei both looked warily at Heero, not quite sure that they had heard him right. The look on his face told them that they had. "Unfortunately unlike Zechs the best I can do for her right now is within Preventers. I'll be handling this case without any interference Une, you can either make sure what I say gets done or get the hell out of my way."

"I could have you brought up on charges of insubordination if you try that Yuy."

"Do whatever the hell you like. Wufei, find one to the lab rats and get out them anything they know; you have permission to use deadly force." Heero made his way out of the room and began walking down stairs. He had never been so furious before in his life. Une would not try to stand in his way, but even the full support of every Preventer on the planet would not get him anywhere without somewhere to start looking. Even more frustrating there appeared to be no one to blame here; if everything that Wufei said was true then everyone had done their jobs just as they were supposed and someone still got the better of them, the better of him. He had failed to protect her and now she was missing, maybe already dead.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs Officer Brandon approached him. "Anything?"

"No sir, I – "

"Then pack it up. There's nothing else that we can do here right now. All personnel not required here are to report back to head quarters, bring anyone that they're interviewing with them. All officers are to be assigned to search units once they arrive at HQ and I want to see all agents in the briefing room in 45 minutes. And find Agent Maxwell for me, tell him I want to see him."

Heero waited until Brandon gave the order over the radio before going outside himself. The front lawn was now covered in vehicles, people, and a tent or two. He scanned the area for a moment before spotting Wufei; he was talking to the nervous, black-haired lab tech from before. The tiny woman was still wearing her bio-hazard suit, small doctor's mask, and goggles perched on the top of her forehead, carrying a large metal box full of what Heero assumed to samples and potential evidence. She seemed even more skittish than she had before even though Wufei was speaking calmly to her, too calmly for Heero's liking.

"Wufei!" Both of them turned his direction quickly, clearly startled; the girl much more so that Wufei who now looked like she was trying to edge her way into the van she was standing beside. As he approached them neither said anything. "Well?"

"They still don't know anything Heero, she's taking some things back to run tests – "

Rounding on the woman Heero finally lost his temper. "That's exactly what the last guy said! How many tests are you going to run before you can tell us something?!" She tried to step back from him but he grabbed the girl by the shoulders turning her to face him. "Billions are spent on your budget, with the best technology the world has to offer you should have had something to tell us over an hour ago! This is completely unacceptable, if I don't hear something from you personally within the next – "

"Heero, stop it! Come on man, it's not her fault." Duo ran over to where he was standing and coolly removed his arms from the now shaking woman. Her pencil-thin eyebrows and black bangs only made her eyes look that much wider and her skin more pale. Wufei guided her away and put her in the back of the van and shut the doors.

Heero could feel his own heart racing; he'd never lost control like this before. Duo was standing on his left side. "Hey buddy, look you're tired. I'll finish up here, why don't you go wait in my car and they we'll head back."

"I'm not going to go wait in your car Maxwell."

"Heero, just go. I think you need to calm down for a minute." Duo's expression did not suggest anger or frustration, those he could have dealt with. It was the sympathetic look his friend was wearing that caught him.

Not knowing what else to say he mumbled "Fine." and made his was towards the top of the driveway. Sitting down for the first time all night he felt restless. The whole situation was still unfathomable to him; how had this happened? He had designed the security for the Manor himself, hand-picked the team for the residence, personally oversaw all of her security during travel. Despite all this someone had managed to get by him and she was paying for his oversight, whatever it may have been. After everything that had happened why did is one failure have to involve her, especially after what had happened.

-----

Duo started the car and began to maneuver through the dozens of people and vehicles that now littered the front yard of the Peacecraft Manor. As they approached the front gate Heero could see the beginning of what would surely become a small city of media tents, vans, satellites, and camera equipment. Duo flashed his badge to the armed patrol now standing at the gate and began to pull through. Immediately a small mob of reporters and cameramen set upon them trying to figure out who was inside and screaming questions. More cars were leaving behind them and as the media personalities began to assault them as well, the crowd thinned enough so that Heero could see anchormen and women standing in front of their crews announcing live to the world that Foreign Minister Relena Darlian Peacecraft was missing.

It may be a while until the next chapters, because there will be several at once for the sake of continuity and to save some confusion. I promise I will get them done as soon as I can. Thanks for reading!

Tynan


	3. Plague and Pandemonium

Well, here's Chapter 3. I had planned on waiting and posting this and the next several chapters all at once but I realized that would take a very long time so I'll just be putting them up as I write them. Anyway, hope you enjoy. Thank you again for the reviews!

Occam's Razor

Chapter Three – Plague and Pandemonium

Tynan

Duo took a seat in one of the many empty booths in the bar, the warm August air following him through the door. As usual, he was the first one here. 'And yet I'm always the one they expect to be late.' he thought to himself. Hilde would be there any minute and the rest would be along shortly.

A waitress approached him to ask if she he wanted something while he was waiting; he did. After a day like today not waiting for his friends was probably an acceptable rudeness. After ordering a pint of whatever was dark and on tap he settled back into the worn leather bench. He'd lost track of how many times he'd sat in this spot with his friends; granted as of late it was not as often as he'd have like to. He could understand why some of them didn't want to come here as much; it was riddled with memories of her. To him however, that was not something to shy away from. Maybe it was being partially raised by Catholics, but he found the reminders of friends who had since passed comforting.

Looking out the window he could see the empty tables and chairs that lined the sidewalk in front of the pub. That had been her favorite place to sit, even when it was a little colder than most would find comfortable. But now no one dared to sit outside in the open, especially not in the past few months anyway. It was really a shame, something that would break her heart if she were here to see it.

Duo laughed a little to himself realizing that much of the way the world was now would break her heart. There had always been speculation that maybe things would be different if she were still here. He disagreed believing instead that she would probably be dead with the rest of them anyway and things would have gone no differently. Of course it was impossible to say for sure; there had been four survivors, perhaps she would have made five. However deep in his heart he knew this was not true. Not with her obsessive commitment to her job, she would have been there with the rest of them.

_- - - - -_

_"What do you mean they don't need us for the security detail? I know the PM's a tough guy and everything, but come on." _

_Commander Une didn't even look up. "I mean, Agent Maxwell, that they don't need you because Prime Minister Franz has taken ill and will not be attending the conference with Mr. Winner and Miss Catalonia today." _

_"He's sick? That's his excuse after we flew out asses all the way from Mars?!" Dorothy was clearly outraged. _

_"From what I understand Miss Catalonia, the Prime Minister is very sick. Apparently he couldn't even get out of bed this morning and had to be taken by ambulance to St. Mary's, pneumonia they think. But once he wakes up again I'll be sure to inform him of your annoyance." _

_Dorothy looked as though she was about to start talking again but Quatre interrupted her. "Well, please pass along my best wishes to him Commander Une. I'm sure that at least part of it is that he's just worn down, what with the new session of Parliament opening and the Annual Address two days ago." Quatre gave a shy sort of laugh. "I know how stressful speaking in front of a joint session of Parliament can be." _

_"You're giving the guy too much credit Quat; he's obviously just faking it so he doesn't have to deal with Wicked Brows here again after what happened last time." _

_"Oh shut up Maxwell. You know damn well he provoked me." _

_"All he did was tell you that he'd do everything he could to get you the funding you needed but it would have to go through Quatre's company!" _

_"Yes and clearly he –"_

_"Alright, enough both of you!" Commander Une stood and pushed her chair back. "Everyone who doesn't need to be here out." All three made their way towards the door. "Not you Maxwell, since you're not busy this afternoon I thought we could discuss some of the paperwork you've been turning in; or haven't been turning in as the case may be." _

_Dorothy made no attempt to suppress a snicker as Quatre quickly ushered her out the door leaving Duo on his own. _

- - - - -

Duo sipped his beer and leaned back to look at the stars twinkling above. That had been the beginning, something that has appeared to be a simple, yet very serious case of pneumonia. If only it had been just that. He told himself over and over again that no one could have anticipated what was really happening. Whether or not this was true or just a comforting statement of denial he could not say.

_- - - - -_

_Duo tried to stifle a yawn as he got off the elevator; 8:00 was just far too early to have to be awake. After swiping his badge the mag-lock door swung back to reveal where the open work floor should have been bustling with people. However, this was not the case. Duo scanned the room for a minute before spotting several dozen agents and officers standing in the break room crowded around a tiny television set. As he approached he noticed that not single person was even whispering._

_"What's so interesting? We blowing something up again?" _

_No one answered._

_"Hello?" But he stopped short when the television screen caught his eye. Scrolling across the bottom was the breaking news: Prime Minister Franz had died last night. Duo could only stand in shock with the rest of his colleagues. "What the hell do they mean he's dead? They took him to the hospital yesterday with pneumonia!" _

_"Would you shut-up so we can listen?!" came an unidentified voice._

_For once Duo didn't need to be told twice. Falling back against the wall he watched the screen awestruck trying to comprehend what was happening. The Prime Minister was dead but that wasn't the worst; one of his aides who had called out sick was found dead in his apartment and now dozens of members of the Parliament and every member of the Prime Minister's Cabinet were being taken to the hospital along with their family members. All of this was upsetting enough, but sadly much more disturbing things were taking place._

_". . . and government officials are enacting a quarantining, effective immediately, over the whole of Brazil. Initial reports are indicating that hospital there are now swamped with the dead and the dying; so bad is the situation that patients are not being allowed into the hospitals and are being treated in the streets. Compounding the problem further, doctors and hospital staff are falling ill as well leaving some of the smaller towns with little or even no medical attention. _

_Deputy Prime Minister Chotek has also taken sick, but still gave a statement from her hospital bed in the capital in Brussels. She had only this to say: _

'_We are clearly in the middle of an epidemic. Myself and all government officials are urging anyone who has recently visited Brazil or come into contact with any members of Parliament or their families to isolate themselves and call for medical attention. Do not go out into the public as the cause of this illness is not yet known and you may unknowingly spread the disease.' _

_Chotek refused to give her thoughts on whether or not this was a biological attack –" _

_Duo suddenly felt sick to his stomach; no one else here had made the connection. He looked around and found a chair to stand on. "Alright everyone, listen up please." Most of them turned to face him. "The Annual Address was three days ago, were any of you in attendance or on security detail that night? You need to tell me right now." _

_No one made a move._

_"So none of you were there? No one has had any contact with any government official?" _

_Someone finally spoke up, "I don't think so. I mean everyone on this floor's Security but all we did was get everyone to Brussels, Parliament's still in session so no one's left yet." Duo recognized the voice as belonging to that of his direct subordinate Officer James Allen. _

_Duo sighed in spite of himself; this situation had the potential to get really bad really fast. "Allen, put this floor on lock down now. No one gets in, none of you leave. Rivera, put a call in to Agent Po and find out what we have to do, she probably already knows what's happening. Coyle, find out what unit was assigned to Parliament for the Address."_

_"It was Agent Yuy's sir." came a voice from the back of the group. _

_Duo felt his heart stop for a moment. "You're sure?"_

_"Yeah, it was." sounded another, "I remember seeing it on the schedule."_

_'Shit.'_

- - - - -

Duo shifted uncomfortably on his seat, warm summer nights and leather were never a good combination. He downed the last sip of his beer and looked at his watch; where was everyone? True, they were only tem minutes late, but he hated sitting by himself in a bar. Heero was always the one he could count on to be fanatically punctual but he had said he was going to be delayed. This was, of course, forgivable; but even if it was just a date with his buddies Heero was never late for anything without a very good reason. Duo had some first hand experience in what was required to take Heero Yuy out of action.

_- - - - - _

_"How long do I have to stay in here?"_

_Duo looked up from his magazine to where his friend sat fiddling with his IV. "Well, Sally said the incubation period seems to be three days, but I think she wants to keep you four just to be sure." _

_"Hn, this is a waste of time. If I were infected I'd be dead by now."_

_Duo had never before been accustomed to feeling pity for Heero, but over the past five months or so that seemed to be all he felt for him. Nothing would go right for this guy since she had been gone. "Heero, come on buddy don't say that." Heero didn't look up from his arm. _

_Duo wished that he could be more comforting somehow, but that was hard when his best friend was locked in a 20 x 15 foot room with walls made of sheets of clear plastic. Quarantine was quarantine, and while everyone knew that Heero was probably fine, no one wanted to take any chances. He'd been extraordinarily lucky once, there was no guarantee that luck would hold out a second time. _

_Moving his chair right next to one of the loose plastic walls Duo placed himself right in front of his friend. "Heero, look, you don't need me to tell you this isn't your fault." _

_"Hn."_

_"I know that you hate sitting around waiting and stuff, but come on man. You've got no idea how lucky you were that you didn't leave the control booth that night. It scared the day lights out of me when I found out your team was –" _

_"Yeah, and now 42 of the 45 are dead."_

_Duo didn't know what to say._

_"How many others from the main building are here?" Heero asked, finally looking up but not at Duo._

_"What, you mean in quarantine?"_

_"Yes."_

_"I don't know, few dozen maybe." He tried to keep his voice relaxed and casual._

_"How many were cleared already?"_

_"About a hundred and fifty – "_

_"So somewhere around 450 Preventers are dead or dying now?"_

_"Heero – "_

_"What about the other buildings?"_

_Duo sighed, he knew there was no way around these questions, it was better just to get it all out now. "Ours got hit the worst, mostly in your wing though. Building B lost about 30 guys. Other than that the occasional cases are popping up in Buildings C and D but since those are the labs and training academy they haven't really had much contact with anyone that would be infected. Most of the people that are getting sick are in quarantine anyway." _

_"And there's still nothing to treat them with?"_

_He was getting uncomfortable with this line of questioning; mostly because there was still a chance that Heero could be infected. "Well, there's one guy in the ICU who's an aide to one of the Cabinet Members. They're guessing he must have got it with that initial group so that means he's been sick and held out for three days now. Sally said they've got him on an IV drip and all sorts of steroids and antibiotics; same cocktail as you've got there." He gestured to Heero's arm._

_"But no one else is surviving?" Heero was back to staring blankly at the floor in front of him. _

_One who didn't know him so well might have said that he looked worried. While this was true, Duo knew it wasn't his own health he was worried about. "Look Heero, all the agents from our building have a meeting with Une at 1:00 today, apparently she's got some things to tell us and a plan to start on. I'll know more after that." _

_"Hn."_

_"I promise as soon as I can I'll be back to update you on everything." Heero looked like he had stopped listening. Duo stood up and walked to the thin plastic wall and tapped on it. "Heero, did ya hear me buddy?" _

_"I heard you Duo." He turned to look at him, finally meeting his eyes for the first time since he had arrived. "You should probably get going, it's going to take a while to get through all the new checkpoints." _

_Duo set the magazine he was still holding down on the chair and stretched. "Yeah, you're right as always. 'Specially in my case, security always likes to pick on me for some reason." He cast Heero a lopsided grin, but the somewhat poor attempt at a joke hadn't cracked the grim look on his face. _

_"Hey man, maybe in the meantime you should kinda try and take advantage of this time. Ya know, catch up on some rest and everything. You never really took the time after, well, the . . . that thing back in October – " _

_"I had a breakdown Duo, you can say it."_

_The openness of the statement and the level of calm in which it was delivered had caught him off guard a bit, but he recovered quickly. "Yeah, well I just mean, they told said you should probably take a few days out of your normal schedule and you never did." _

_"I saw the shrink for the required amount of time and passed the psyche evaluation. There was no reason to take any time off." Again he met Duo's gaze. "I'm fine." _

_"I know you are." Duo quickly agreed, "I just think, well, I know that . . ."_

_There was a moment of awkward silence before Heero spoke, his voice sounded dead and distant. "Yes, I'm thinking about her. But she's not here and if she were she'd probably be on her deathbed at this point." _

_"Yeah . . . " Duo picked up his jacket and moved toward the door. The air in the room suddenly seemed thick; there was no denying that Heero had changed a considerable amount over the past few years and then a lot more in the last five months. But even taking into consideration his status as best friend and confident, Duo was slightly stunned at the conversation that had just transpired. Not knowing what else to say he muttered, "Alright, well I'll make sure to get back tonight and fill ya in on everything. Try and get some rest." _

_He pulled the door shut behind him and glanced through the narrow piece of glass in it back to where Heero was still staring at the floor in front him, his hand absentmindedly rubbing the IV in his arm. _

- - - - -

Duo looked down at his empty glass; if everyone didn't show up soon he'd be drunk by the time they got there. Looking around for the waitress he spotted a familiar face.

"Bridgett!"

The woman looked around to see who was calling for her. She found him quickly as there weren't many other people obstructing her view. "Duo Maxwell!" She set down the tray she was carrying and walked over to the man who was now trying to work his way out of the far side of the booth he was seated in to greet her. "How the hell are you?" her thick Irish brogue rang through the empty pub.

Duo was finally able to stand and gave her a quick hug; something hard rested against his back. Stepping back from her he saw her right arm wrapped tightly in a rather bulky cast. She caught sight of him staring gave an embarrassed sort of shrug.

"Is that from last week?"

Bridgett gave him a weak smile, "Aye, I was just leaving for the night when it happened. Doctor said it was a good clean break, should be healed up in no time. Guess I be one o' the lucky ones thought eh?"

Duo lowered his gaze. "Yeah . . ." He looked at her arm again; Bridgett was a short woman in her late twenties. Her uncle owned the pub and she had worked here as long as Duo could remember. He'd been a regular since Relena had introduced he and Hilde to this place when they had moved to Brussels almost five years ago.

"Will the rest of the gang be along then?"

Duo snapped back to the conversation. "What? O-oh yeah, they're all just running late. I guess I'm a little early too."

"Well, it's certainly good to see you Duo." She started to walk away. "Let me know if there's anything I can be gettin' for ya."

"I'll take another beer!" he called after her. Settling himself back into the booth he again looked out the window, but not at the empty tables and chairs. Across the street sat a pile of rubble that was once an Italian Restaurant. He'd never actually eaten there, but it had always looked nice; not so much anymore however. He couldn't remember how many people had actually died in the explosion, what he did remember was that the next day O'Malley's was still open for anyone looking for a place to relax. He laughed a little to himself, nothing could close this place down. Not even the worst epidemic to in the history of mankind.

_- - - - - _

_"The latest information from Infectious Diseases is that the nexus was the one of the Cabinet Aides."_

_"The one they found dead in his apartment four days ago?"_

_"Yes, and I will remind you, Agent Maxwell, for the last time not to interrupt me."_

_Duo settled back into his chair, the look on Commander Une's face was enough to silence him anyway. He had to say however, the other 50 or so agents in the room looked ready to burst with questions as well. Regardless, they sat in quiet intensity at their grade school-like desks in the stadium styled room, hanging on every word out of their commander's mouth. _

_She straightened her glasses and continued. "I've asked Agent Po to join us today so that she can give us an accurate timeline of what we believe occurred. After that we will be going over the casualty rates and several containment strategies that have been presented. We have a lot to cover so save any questions you may have for until Agent Po is finished." _

_As she took a seat Sally stood and walked to where the laptop and projector were, one hundred eyes following her. She picked up a small remote and the screen behind her lit up. "I'll try to keep the medical jargon to a minimum." _

_She clicked to the first screen which was a picture of a man walking through a crowd with what appeared to be several government officials. "This is John Cairncross, Cabinet Aide to the Minister of Transportation, on Saturday January 24__th__, one week ago in Rio de Janeiro. It is believed this picture was taken around the same time he was infected." _

_She clicked to the next screen, which to Duo looked like one of those bizarre modern art installments but in reality was an enlarged picture of some single-celled organism. "This is what we're dealing with. We don't know much about it except that it is a virus, not bacteria as we originally thought. It takes around three days after initial contraction for the virus to multiply to the point where symptoms are visible. And around 36 hours after that - " Again she clicked to the next slide and there was an audible gasp from those present. "- the victim is dead."_

_Duo glanced at Wufei sitting beside him; the normally stoic man wore the same look of shock as everyone else. The picture on the screen in front of them was grotesque to say the least. The man was lying sprawled on a metal table in what Duo could only assume was a morgue. He skin was ashen and wrinkled looking, like a healthy man who had lost a lot of weight very quickly. Dried blood was speckled around his mouth and on his chin, his eyes, though closed, looked as though they were bulging out of his sockets, his checks were sunken, and his features contorted in such a way that suggested he was in a considerable amount of pain when he drew his last breath. As everyone began to process the image and settle down, Sally delivered another blow. _

_"This is Prime Minister Maximilian Franz approximately 45 minutes after his death." _

_There was no gasp this time, only stunned silence. Duo again looked at the man in the picture; if no one had told him he never would have even guessed this shriveled, emaciated person could be the Prime Minister. _

_Mercifully, Sally clicked to the next screen and continued, it wasn't much better Two bloody lumps of what Duo could only assume was once a healthy organ sat in a metal pan. "This is what his lungs looked like after the autopsy. What we're dealing with here is a retrovirus that attacks the lungs and heart. The virus clusters in the lungs and begins to eat away at what amounts to the lung's protective lining. This of course progresses until the victim does not have enough healthy lung left to keep himself alive, or he begins to hemorrhage so badly he asphyxiates on his own blood. The latter of the two we're trying to prevent, but without massive surgery, which will only slow down not solve the process, there is little we can do._

_In some cases we believe the victims are suffering what we could call a heart attack, either because their lungs are not producing enough oxygen for it to function properly, or because blood and other tissues are getting into the blood stream and causing clots. So far none of the victims are responding to any treatment we give them. One person, is in his third day since initially showing symptoms. However, he will probably not live to the end of today, giving this virus a 100 kill rate." _

_There was silence again. Sally seemed to need a moment to recuperate herself; but after only a few seconds she picked up the remote and clicked to the next screen, a timeline of the last seven days, complete with pictures. _

_"As best we can figure this is what happened. On January 24__th__, John Cairncross was deliberately infected with this disease while on ESUN business in Rio de Janeiro, we are still not sure how this was done. The next day, January 25__th__, he traveled back to Brussels where he had an early morning meeting with the Cabinet and the Prime Minister to go over last minute things for the Address that evening. We believe that it was at this point that all of them were infected through their contact with Cairncross, who did not yet show symptoms. The next night, January 26__th__, the Prime Minster presided over a full House of Parliament for his Annual Address; the cabinet members were all in attendance as well as every ranking government official in ESUN. Because the virus is believed to be transmitted through contact, with all the handshaking and schmoozing at such an event, it was only a matter of time before it was spread to nearly every official either that night, or over the next few days as Parliament opened for the new session, as this chart illustrates." She clicked the remote again._

_Duo was surprised to see that it was a chart of the Parliament House and the Senate. Every seat was labeled with the representative, minister, cabinet member or aide that sat there; over a thousand little boxes in all. About sixty percent of the seats were colored black, the rest were red, with the exception of four blue seats that were scattered between the two charts. Before he could guess what these might represent his thoughts were interrupted as he saw Sally step back to the laptop. _

_Duo waited for her to continue but she didn't seem to have anything else to say. Looking around no one else appeared to have a question, so he slowly raised his hand but Wufei suddenly spoke._

_"When you say that the virus is spread through touch, you mean by coming into contact with the disease from someone that is infected themselves?" _

_Sally looked up, "Yes, that's correct."_

_"As far as I know so is the common cold but if__Cairncross__ was infected with that I doubt everyone in Parliament would have caught it. Why is this virus able to infect people so easily?" _

_"We're still trying to figure that out. Right now we believe that it was genetically engineered for this task; made so that it could spread quickly, live outside the body for long periods of time, and then multiply and kill at an astonishing rate. Additionally, unlike the common cold this is something completely new, no one has developed any sort of an immunity yet."_

_"So are we calling this a biological attack yet?" asked someone in the back._

_"Officially no, we have not made that statement to the public yet." It was Commander Une that spoke this time, she rose from her seat and walked to the middle of the room again. "But as I'm sure all of you have realized by now, this was a very carefully timed, well planned terrorist attack. No one has claimed responsibility as of yet; but it is clear that whoever was behind these actions carried them out with the intention of causing as much destruction to the government as possible." _

_If it was possible, it seemed to Duo that her face became even more serious and a small sigh escaped her lips. "I'm sure I don't need to explain to most of you the severity of the crisis we are facing." She turned to walk back to her seat. "Agent Po will now take any of your questions before we move on." _

_Duo quickly raised his hand._

_"Yes Duo?"_

_"Yeah, I'm sorry, what exactly is that chart a chart of?"_

_Sally glanced back at the screen behind her; she seemed to realize that the writing on it may be too small for those seated in front of her to read. "This chart is a diagram of Parliament and all of the government officials in ESUN. The color of their seat explains their status as of now." _

_"Their status?" It was Wufei who spoke this time._

_Sally looked like she was trying to find a way to say whatever it was she had to. After a very short time, which seemed a lot longer than it actually was, she crossed her arms over her chest and looked straight at Duo and Wufei. "Those seats colored blue are the four officials who have not shown any symptoms of the disease yet. Those in red have been infected and are currently in the last stages of the disease." She paused for a moment, but Duo knew what was coming. "Black means that they're already dead." _

- - - - -

Bridgett set down another foaming mug of what-ever-the-hell-it-was-he-was-drinking. He tossed her an appreciative smile and received a wink in thanks. Raking his hand through his bangs he realized his heart was going a bit faster than it probably should have been.

'The way things have been the past three years I'll be shocked if I don't give myself a heart attack by thirty.' he mused to himself. It was odd how the years spent piloting his gundam had never seemed to have this effect on him. Maybe it's was that things were simpler; destroy this base, attack this unit, sabotage this machinery. It had been much more cut and dry. He and Hilde has talked about this before, she had been the one to point out to him that it was much easier to destroy a government that it is to have to rebuild one.

- - - - -

_The door at the far corner of the room clicked open and tall, serious looking man entered followed by a woman Duo recognized as Commander Une's secretary. Duo and Wufei stopped talking as the man took at the table. The man seemed to suddenly realize their presence as he stood and began walking towards them. _

_He extended his hand. "Hello, I'm Representative Nicholas Josef."_

_Realization dawned on Wufei's face next him and he shook the man's hand. "Agent Chang, I'm with Special Operations." _

_"Agent Maxwell, Security and Intelligence." He shook the man's hand. "Eh, well we're, umm, glad that you could make it today." _

_Duo looked over Nicholas Josef; despite the fact that he had to be pushing 50 the man looked remarkably youthful. He was tall, angular, and imposing. His light brown hair was streaked with gray as was his mustache giving him a dignified look. The expression on his face however, was one of exhaustion and hopelessness. "Yes well, it's not as though there is anywhere else I have to be today; this is the first they've let us out of quarantine in almost three days. They won't even let us out of the building actually, not that I am ungrateful for all of Preventers help and generosity. Forgive me, but something about being on practical lock down in the Preventers Infirmary is unsettling when there's so much that must be done." _

_He smiled weakly and continued. "They're not letting us attend the funerals you see. To be honest I'm not entirely sure if they are allowing any surviving family members to even bury them, but I do know that there are at least several dozen memorial services taking place over the next week or so . . . so many friends to say goodbye to." _

_He was cut off as the door opened again, but as they glanced in its direction they saw that the pair coming in was not at all who they had expected._

_"You're back?!" Duo finally managed to sputter._

_Millard and Lucrezia Peacecraft stepped into the room. He looked thinner, they both did, but he looked worse. He carried with him a several files and a small laptop. Setting them down on the table he took his long coat off and hung it over the back of one of the chairs. Finally he looked up to acknowledge their presence. "Chang, Maxwell." He turned to the other man and extended his hand. "You must be Repetitive Josef." _

_To Duo, Josef looked even more surprised to see Zechs than he was. After a moment he shook his hand, "Yes, and you must be Milliardo Peacecraft; I knew your father. I haven't seen you since you were five. My word boy, we all thought that you had disappeared forever when you went after your sister back in August." _

_Zech's face remained stony; he didn't seem to like that fact that this man knew him. "This is my wife Lucrezia." He stepped aside to allow her to shake Josef's hand. _

_Duo was still in a state of shock, Wufei seemed slightly stunned as well, but did a much better job of keeping that to himself than Duo did. "So you're back?" He paused for a minute debating whether or not he should press with questions; in the end his curiosity got the better of him. "Does that mean you, ya know, found anything – " _

_"We can all discuss this later Duo." came a deadly sounding voice from the door. Duo whirled around to see Heero enter with Commander Une and two other men right behind him. _

_Duo looked hopefully at Heero for a second, daring to wish that maybe Zechs had brought good news back with him. Heero's eyes remained somewhat unreadable until he shook his head slightly, conveying to Duo exactly what he didn't want to hear; where ever Zechs had been these past five months he hadn't made any more progress than they had. _

_"Gentlemen," Une's voice jarred Duo from his silent conversation with his friend, "if you would all please have a seat, I'm sure Representative Albert will be along shortly." _

_Those in the room began to file into their seats as Une stood at the end of the long mahogany table. The door opened again as Sally Po and an officer dressed in a white lab coat carrying a briefcase and a metal box entered. Sally took the items from the man and set them on the table next to where Une was standing. "Sorry that I'm late Commander, it took longer to get out the containment rooms than I thought it would." Duo caught her smile in Heero's direction who in turn nodded appreciatively; he would ask him later how he got out of quarantine a day and a half early. _

_"As it were, we are still waiting on Philippe Albert, so you haven't missed anything." There was no humor in her voice despite the unnecessary prodding. "I believe most of us know each other either personally or through reputation, but I'll take the time to introduce everyone while we're waiting."_

_She indicated the man sitting on her right. "This is Representative Josef of the North Eastern European Region." he nodded to the group. "Representative Clement Winston of the British Isles and Representative Harold Franklin of the Eastern North American Region." Both men nodded as well. The expressions of their faces were as grim as Josef's, but they lacked the worried tone he possessed. _

_To Duo, Winston looked something like an underfed walrus. He was not obese by any stretch of the imagination, but definitely on the stout side. The top of his head was completely bald and the sides covered in thick gray hair that looked as though it had once been black. His handlebar mustache covered most of his upper lip and tiny pale blue eyes gleamed from under heavy eyelids. Under different circumstances he may have looked a much jollier fellow, as Duo was sure he was called in his homeland. _

_Representative Franklin could not have looked more different from the other two men. His cane rested on the arm of his chair, Duo had seen him walk with a slight limp as he entered the room. Even though the older man was sitting, he could see that he was a tall man; thin and frail looking with large brown eyes set in shallow sockets, like he had been stretched out to longer than he was meant to be. Despite his fragile appearance there was not a sign of anything but hard resolve on his face._

_"These are several of our Agents that I've asked to join us here today." She gestured to Sally and her colleague, "Agents Sally Po and Theodore Hall. Agent Po is one of the heads of our Medical and Laboratory Division, and Agent Hall works in the Biological and Chemical Weapons Department." _

_She turned to the group of young men sitting on her left. "These are Agents Wufei Chang, Duo Maxwell, and Heero Yuy. Agent Chang is part of our Special Operations Team, and Maxwell and Yuy are two to the heads of Security and Intelligence. Agent Yuy also works with our Cyber Counterintelligence Team and occasionally Special Ops." Duo tried not to roll his eyes, Heero could do it all. _

"_Finally Milliardo and Lucrezia Peacecraft, who previously worked for ESUN as liaison for the Terra Formation Project on Mars. Mr. Peacecraft was good enough to set aside his personal work and return to Brussels on very short notice at my request."_

_Une stood before the group again, "I don't need to tell all of you how dire the situation has become. Once Representative Albert joins us we will be going over the plan Preventers has come up with in order to contain this disease and try to develop a treatment. After that we will hear from the four of you and what your plans are." She paused for a moment, her voice got lower and even more serious, "None of us in this room with you will pretend to be experts on Parliamentary procedure. I'm sure that even yourselves never would have imagined that a situation of this magnitude would arise. Despite that the fact of the matter is that the four of you are all that remains of the elected officials of the ESUN government." Duo already knew this but somehow hearing it out loud sent shivers down his spine. _

_"Local government is doing everything they can to try and control the situation. For the time being they are able to function with the help of us and other agencies but this will not last for long. We are without the global governing body and bureaucracy needed to deal with this crisis. Before we leave this room today we must have a plan in place to bring back some form of a functioning government; even if it is on a temporary basis." Une stopped talking and for the second time sat down at the table, she gestured for Sally and Hall, who were still standing near the door, to do the same._

_As they were seated she continued. "All of you are the first besides myself and Mr. Peacecraft to know this, though it will no doubt be broadcast over every news station on the planet before we leave this room. Someone has claimed responsibility for this attack; a radical group known as 'The Army of Leon Cherheudohn'. Preventers has had them on our radar for several years now, but up until this point they have never been more than a secret political society with a few too many guns. Obviously they decided to change tha-, what Maxwell?" _

"_The army of who now?"_

"_Leon Cherheudohn," chimed in Wufei, "He was a general who laid the ground work for the founding members of the United Earth's Sphere Alliance." He tuned to Une. "He's been dead for over 80 years now, he still has followers?"_

"_So it would seem." She looked as though she planned to continue but stopped for a moment, possibly because of the expression all three of the representatives were wearing._

_"They decided to announce this through Milliardo?" It was Heero who spoke; Duo noted he was careful not to address him as 'Zechs' in front of the other men present. _

_Zechs lifted his to look at Heero. "Yes, though I must confess that I was surprised myself; not only because they came to me but also because they knew where to look. I received their message last night and returned to Brussels this morning." _

_"And we're sure that's it's credible?"_

_Zech's expression darkened, "Yes, I am quite - "_

_"I think, gentlemen, we should save this part of the discussion for when Representative Albert arrives." The door behind her opened as if on cue and her secretary entered and whispered something in her ear. Une looked down at her watch for a moment and mumbled something to herself before sending the girl out. "Agent Maxwell, would you be so kind as to go to Albert's room and see what is keeping him, he's still not answering his phone and we are on a bit of a schedule." _

_Duo pushed back his chair and stood up, "Not a problem boss, be back in a sec."_

_He closed the door behind him and started down the hall before realizing he didn't know where he was going. Turning back he asked the secretary who pointed him toward the elevator. Three floors down in one of the Infirmary Wings Duo counted the doors on the right side of the hall until he came to sixth. The light was on and the door was pulled shut. He raised his hand and gave it a short rap. _

_There was no answer._

_He knocked again and called "Uh, Representative Albert, this is Agent Maxwell; we're all waiting for you upstairs." Still no answer. He hit the door a little louder. "Mr. Albert, are you alright in there?" _

_He tried to turn the handle on the door but found it to be locked. It wasn't until he heard a soft moan from inside that panic seized him, he shouted to two passing nurses to get a medical team. Pounding on the door again he yelled a final warning. "Mr. Albert, I'm breaking the door down, if you can hear me stand back." _

_Taking his gun from its holster under his jacket he fired three shots at the stainless steel handle of the door which fell to the floor. Stepping back he raised his leg to kick the door in. It creaked and the wood around the frame splintered but the door didn't fall away. Cursing under his breath he stepped back again and threw his shoulder against the offending piece of wood, nearly losing his balance as it gave way and fell to the ground. _

_Righting himself Duo looked around the room, quickly finding what he was looking for. His breath caught in his chest and he heard footsteps rush up behind him and come to a dead stop as they stepped through the door. A second later he was shoved out of the way by a man in a white coat and a woman in bright colored scrubs who swooped upon the figure lying on the floor and began tying any string-like material they could find around his upper arms. Duo however, didn't make a move. Another doctor with a stretcher pushed his way into the room; they quickly lifted the man off the floor and onto the canvas and wood structure. Pausing only for a minute to wrench the scalpel out of his hand they rushed back out the door and down the hall, one of them screaming instructions as they went._

_It wasn't until a moment after they had left that Duo processed what had just happened. Looking a the crimson colored puddle that now coated the floor he reached for his cell phone attached to his belt; he was not sure what to say to Une and everyone else in that room except that there was nothing anyone could have done. Years of battle experience had taught him several things about the physical limitations of human beings, one of them was that nobody loses that much blood and lives._

- - - - -

Off in the distance the low rolling sound of thunder jarred Duo from his thoughts. That's what he prayed that the sound was anyway, but in the back of his mind he knew it wasn't thunder. Looking out the window he was met with a clear and starry night; the glass next to his face rattled for a second time. Pushing open the hinged door he craned his neck out into the night air in order to look down the street. His worst fears were confirmed as the distinct shape of smoke and dust could be seen in the moonlight rising over the city.


	4. Liminality, Reincorporation, and Suspici

Okay, well here's Chapter Four, a little on the longer side. Before we begin however, I wanted to say something I should have back in the beginning of this story: I promise that this is not a Relena-hated-her-life-and-job-and-got-mad-at-Heero-for-something-and-ran-away plot, (there are much more sinister things afoot). I also promise that I am not going to string you along endlessly without answering anything (this isn't LOST); there will be a number of twists and pay-offs in the chapters to come but first I've got to set it all up so please be patient with me.

Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading; all your reviews make me want to keep writing that much more, (besides making me blush a bit). Thank you again, enjoy!

Occam's Razor

Chapter Four – Liminality, Reincorporation, and Suspicion

Tynan

Quatre turned his wrist so that he could glance at his watch. He was only running five minutes late and it was not as though finding a place to park would be a problem. _'I'm sure Duo will be even later than I am.'_ he thought. He slowed the car as it pulled up to the toll station behind several others; stealing a glance out the window, he could barely make out the bridge just to his left which led into the train yard. The industrial yard looked out of place on the canal next to the picturesque buildings, colorful bridges, and foot paths that crisscrossed the man made river.

It occurred to him that he had not moved since stopping a few minutes ago. Rolling down the window he craned his neck into the night air to try and get a look at what was holding everyone up. About half way across the bridge a large truck was stalled in the middle of the road, several men looked as though they were trying to fix it. Some drivers around him were honking, others were yelling. Quatre was only grateful that Dorothy had agreed to get a ride to the pub with Hilde; he shuttered to think how quickly her patience would run out were she with him.

Resigning himself to the fact that he would be even later than he initially thought, Quatre turned the car off and leaned back in his seat. It was obviously going to be a while, but in the meantime, he reminded himself, he had a splendid view of Brussels and the canal to enjoy. Looking out over the water again, it was only then that Quatre noted that the foot bridge seemed to be experiencing its own traffic. Several men in police uniforms were standing around a group of pylons and letting only a few people by them at a time. His suspicions roused he looked back to the left where a large freight train was stuck with the front end having just reached the other side of the bridge.

Immediately he knew something was wrong. Pulling on his blazer and opening his seat belt, Quatre retrieved the Glock 23 he kept stowed in the glove compartment, clicked the safety off, and slid it into the inside pocket of his jacket. Wondering to himself what might be happening, his question was answered as he reached to the door handle.

The bridges on either side of him erupted into columns of flames and he felt the windows on both sides of his car rattle from the deafening noise as he threw himself under the steering wheel as best he could. There was the sound of debris colliding with the ground, large pieces of rocks hitting the water, and above all else screaming. Quatre lifted his head and found the windows in his car had shattered, the glass covered his back. He wrenched open the door and was about to swing his leg over the side when a second explosion ripped through the bridge in front of him.

Vehicles were thrown backwards; he felt his own slide back into the one behind him and watched the hood and right side of his car crumple as a small truck landed, upside down on it. Wrenching the driver's side door open he rolled out and on to the ground as the roof of his own car gave way only a second later. Stepping back, Quatre righted himself and looked around him. Smoke and dust rose into the air, screams from the injured, panicked, and dying rang through the night, everything around him was burning. This was hell. There was no other way to describe a world where something like this could happen at any time.

He had watched this world unfold from front row seats and had done nothing to stop it. No one had, none of them could have possibly imagined what would come of their efforts to restore the Earth Sphere United Nation.

- - - - -

_"So it's going to be Representative Joseph then?"_

_Dorothy turned to face him. "Yes, personally I think that Franklin would have been the better choice. But you know how people get during a crisis; always turning to the one with experience in the military. I suppose they believe those kind of people are used to cleaning up bloody messes." She turned to face him flinging long blond hair over her shoulder._

_"You sound as though you have your doubts." Quatre knew better than to pry too much, but considering everything that had happened, it was hard resist her take on the situation. He was also still not entirely sure why she agreed to something so out of her character._

_Dorothy took a seat in one of many empty chairs on the space shuttle. "I'm just uneasy, something about, well all of this seems so . . ." she trailed off for a moment. "It would appear that I am just in denial over everything that's happened down there." She gestured out the window to the blue planet below her. "I also cannot for the life of me understand why you insist upon accompanying me, Mr. Winner." Her voice broke a bit, "Earth is a very dangerous place to be right now."_

_"That's why I'm coming, to see if there's anyway I can help. All of my friends are down there, it seemed wrong not to come." He chose his words carefully, not wanting to imply that he thought she needed someone to look after her. That was not at all the case, Quatre knew Dorothy could handle her own better than most, but that did not stop him from worrying._

_For a moment both of them sat in silence, in the background somewhere the pilot announced to them that they would be making their final approach in about 20 minutes. Dorothy's pale blue eyes flickered towards the floor in front of her. "This is your last chance to turn back you know." Her voice was dark and somber._

_Quatre was not sure that he had heard her correctly. "Excuse me?"_

_Still not meeting he eyes she continued, "We're about to make our final approach to Earth; this is your last chance to tell the pilot to turn back." She finally turned to look him in the eyes. "Once you've set foot on the planet you won't be allowed to leave again. The Colony Officials have closed down the spaceports to all Earthlings or anyone who has been there since the out break. They don't want to risk an epidemic of their own."_

_"Well I can hardly blame them, in such a confined, relatively small area, even one person infected with the Echidna Virus would have devastating results." Inwardly he knew that it would be a long time before he would be able to return to space; however this didn't bother him. The colonies might be his home, but everyone he loved lived on that blue planet and what would home be if all of his friends were gone?_

_He looked to where Dorothy had been sitting, but she was not there. Instead he found her once again staring out the window down at the planet below. It was not hard to determine what she was thinking. She hadn't lived there in a permanent sense for almost two years now, but that didn't make Earth any less important to her. Like him all of her loved ones were there too; unlike him, she had no where else to go._

_Breaking the silence she finally spoke. "Did you finally manage to get in touch with Heero?"_

_Quatre started slightly at the sound of her voice. "Yes, he apologized for his delay in getting to us."_

_"Hmph, the worst epidemic in modern history and he takes over a week to let us know that everyone is alright, and all he has to say is that he's sorry?"_

_Quatre would never admit that he had had similar feelings; he still felt bad for the sharp tone he had greeted Heero with, though he wasn't sure the other man even noticed. As quickly as it came however, he anger vanished and instead was replaced with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude that everyone was safe and healthy._

_"From the sounds of it things have been quite chaotic in Preventers." He paused for a moment not sure whether or not to continue, it had been Duo that confided the rest of this information to him. "Heero was also confined to quarantine for two and a half days." Dorothy's expression immediately shifted to one of curiosity and worry, causing Quatre to quickly explain, "Oh, he's alright, but apparently his team was the one that was assigned to security for the Annual Address." Quatre's voice grew quiet, "He was in the control booth all night with two other agents and Lady Une; they were the only ones who survived."_

_Dorothy looked slightly relieved at this news; her expression however was still a sad one. When news of the outbreak had reached the L4 Cluster, Dorothy had immediately begun to call her friends and family members. Some she managed to get in touch with, others she never did. They had tried to leave for Earth immediately but were initially prevented from doing so; nothing was getting on or off the planet they were told. After several frantic days of calling with no answer or response, the vid-phone in Quatre's office rang and he was met with the stony glare of one Heero Yuy. He called for Dorothy who arrived out of breath and frazzled looking but anxious to speak to whoever was on the line._

_With the lock down put on all travel between Earth and the colonies, reliable information had been hard for them to come by, the only thing that was certain was that several parts of the world seemed to be experiencing a complete break-down of basic social and technological services. As it turned out the situation was far worse than they imagined. Heero had just come from a meeting with what was left of the ESUN government and had the latest figures. South America was looking at an expected casualty rate of around 60; it could go as high as 75 if they were unable to contain the spread of the virus._

_The virus has been spread over almost the whole of the globe; the cause of this was speculated to be a combination of tourists, those who were attending the political event in Rio de Janeiro, and those who came to Brussels to see the opening of Parliament and then returned home. Most of the other continents were reporting in at around 15 - 20 losses; Northern Europe was hit very hard but their initially efforts at containment seemed to be working to an extent. China and the South Pacific were also experiencing higher casualty rates due to the high population density there._

_The ESUN government had been almost completely wiped out. There had been four that survived, but Heero informed them that they were now down to three. Dorothy was not surprised when he told them that Representative Albert had committed suicide in his quarantine room just before he was supposed to meet with the other three surviving representatives. Later she would huff to Quatre that from what she knew of Albert she was surprised he lasted as long as he did._

_Heero finally continued on to their plan: first and foremost the government had to be rebuilt. It was agreed upon by all in the room that the globe was in no shape to try and hold any sort of elections. The three men would have to unanimously decide which one of them would temporarily take the position of Prime Minister. In the meantime, a certain percentage of Parliament had to be present in order to pass the bills and resolutions needed to get aid and support approved and the world was in no shape to try and hold elections. As such Josef, Franklin, and Winston were to construct a list of those who would be appointed to serve as temporary representatives until elections could be held._

_As Quatre terminated the line with Heero he felt cold and shaken. Dorothy however, wore an expression he had never before seen on her face; she looked scared. She bustled out the room saying only that she had things to do and when they saw each other again the next day her face was set in hard resolve._

_Two days later the call came that had put them on this shuttle; newly appointed Prime Minister Josef himself had contacted Dorothy personally and informed her that she was nominated to represent Northern Central Europe in Parliament. When she told Quatre she had not yet given them an answer, but the next morning she called to inform him that she would be taking a shuttle to Brussels tomorrow morning; he immediately stated that he would be joining her despite her protests._

_Quatre stood next to the young woman; she had undergone such a radical transformation since he had first met her. Then, even a crisis of this magnitude would not have brought her to answer a call to duty._

_"I don't trust him."_

_Quatre looked to Dorothy wondering whether or not he was supposed to respond, but she continued. "Something about this situation doesn't sit right with me." She gave a humorless laugh, "Guess it's just a gut instinct, or maybe I've just gotten too cynical after everything I've seen."_

_"To be honest with you, I don't trust him either." The bluntness of the statement seemed to catch Dorothy a bit off guard. "That being said, of the four who survived, the one I would have trusted the most was, apparently not up for the task."_

_Dorothy cast him a wicked sort of smile. "If there was a way to bring him back then without a doubt Albert should be given the job; someone who would rather take their own life than have than have the fate of the planet put on their shoulders is careful and humble enough to carry it."_

_A small sigh escaped her lips and Quatre decided to press his luck once more. "Is that why you accepted then? To keep an eye on the provisional Parliament?"_

_She didn't answer at first and Quatre got the impression he was being rebuked; turning to go strap himself into his seat for their landing she suddenly spoke nodding her head a little, "They seem to be gathering a lot of ex-Romefeller; I know it's because of our experience in government but it's still somehow unsettling. Besides that, she . . . " her voice was strangled sounding._

_"What is it?" Quatre asked as softly as he was able; her reflection in the glass in front of her was visible, and he could see tears welling in her eyes._

_"Relena would have wanted me to."_

- - - - -

A scream next to where he was standing stirred him from his momentary daze. Quatre looked to what a minute ago had been his car; someone was still alive inside the tangled mess of smoldering metal that had landed on it. He ran to the back of his car and hoisted himself up onto the trunk. Carefully making his way to the passenger-side front door, he could see someone waving their arms in panic. There was a woman strapped into her seat, hanging upside suspended by her seatbelt. The door nearest to her was crushed shut but the one behind it had fallen off.

He climbed inside taking care not to cut himself on the jagged metal and yelled over the noise outside. "Ma'am! Ma'am, can you get out of your seatbelt?"

Quatre wasn't sure if the woman heard him, she continued to scream and cry desperately. He leaned around the side of the chair to reach for her and had the misfortune to glance to his left and found the source of the woman's hysteria. The entire driver's side of the truck had been crushed; along with what Quatre could only assume had been the woman's husband.

Forcing himself to push the gruesome image to the back of his mind, he again turned to the sobbing woman. "Ma'am, are you hurt? Can you get out of your seatbelt? I can take you out from the back."

She started at the sound of his voice, clearly realizing only now that he was there. She stopped crying for a moment, "Mein Herr und mein bein! Es tun merh weh!" She gasped and choked and began to sob again.

Quatre reached over her and undid her seatbelt; he had no idea what she was saying but she was obviously too upset to help herself. After a moment of effort she fell from her seat, not waiting for her consent, he dragged her between the chairs trying to keep her from looking at the driver's side. He jumped out of the back door first and pulled her out behind him. She immediately fell into a heap on the floor; blood was running down her leg and her foot stuck out at an unnatural angle. Despite this she tried to stand and go back to the truck all the while wailing, "Mein Herr! Ach, mein Herr! Sebastian!"

She began to fall again; Quatre caught her under her arms and guided her away from the wreckage. Setting her down next to an undamaged car he knelt down beside her. "Ma'am." She only continued to scream. "Ma'am, Ma- Frau!" She stopped her yelling and met his eyes. Quatre didn't know what else to say; he had just used one third of his German vocabulary and there did not seem to a need for 'thank you' or 'hello'.

He spoke slowly and loudly, annunciating every syllable. "Frau, stay here. I'm going to get help for you." Remarkably the woman seemed to understand; she nodded before breaking eye contact with him and crying into her hands.

Leaving her there seemed cruel, but there were dozens of others who needed help as well; he would save as many of them as he could.

- - - - -

_Quatre leaned back into the tall leather seat, beside him, Duo was fighting a losing battle to stay awake. It had been an incredibly long week for all of them and the strain was beginning to show. The Peacecrafts sat on a couch in the far corner; Noin had fallen asleep on her husband's shoulder about an hour ago, Zechs had joined her shortly there after. Wufei sat across from him, his arms folded across his chest and eyes closed. To most this would like he was simply waiting, but Quatre could tell he needed a break; even Heero's eyes were red. The exception seemed to be Trowa Barton, who stood in the far corner of the room, face covered by his long bangs for the most part. According to Duo, Trowa had a head start having joined Preventers only three days ago. His official badge was still not ready but he wore an Agent's jacket like the other three._

_Quatre had to admit that he felt somewhat out of place, but unlike Trowa he could be more helpful if he remained in his current position. The door was thrown open and a frantic looking Sally and another man Quatre knew only as 'That-Nerdy-Looking-Doctor-Guy-With-the-Messed-Up-Hair-Who's-Always-Following-Sally-Around', or at least that's what Duo had called him._

_"She didn't call yet did she?" Sally practically screamed at them._

_She was met with four sets of raised eyebrows before Wufei answered, "No, she hasn't called yet. She said 10:30 at the earliest but God only knows with that woman."_

_"Come on Wufei," Duo apparently had woken up, "Wicked Brows, wouldn't leave us hanging with something like this, right Quat?"_

_Quatre folded his hands on the table, "I'm sure once Miss Catalonia is finished with her business in Parliament and is able to find a few minutes to steal away she will contact us."_

_His optimism did not seem to be shared by the Chinese man who was looking anxious. "Wufei, Commander Une has not even arrived yet, which more than likely means that Parliament has not even adjourned yet."_

_"They've been in there for over fourteen hours. I agree that whatever they're doing is taking longer than it should, especially considering that they're on lock down." Heero added._

_"Fourteen hours with no bathroom breaks, man I'd agree to whatever they wanted at that point." Duo kicked his chair back and brought his feet up to rest on the table closing his eyes again. "Well, wake me up when she gets to us, will ya?"_

_Wufei was still looking disgruntled, "I still don't see what they could possibly be debating for so long or why they wouldn't allow a security team in there with them. God only knows what could be happening. Une should have disregarded what Josef and Winston wanted and overridden their decision for their own safety. We just had to replace an entire government, we don't need to do it again."_

_Quatre sighed inwardly to himself; apparently it had been a good idea to move everyone to his estate in Rotterdam. Had they still been in Brussels they would probably have had to shackle Wufei to pole to keep him from breaking down the doors of the closed secession of Parliament. At exactly 8:00 this morning, February 11th, AC 120, fourteen days after Prime Minister Franz had died, a mass swearing-in ceremony had taken place on the front steps of the Capital Building. Once it was over all 1,254 members of the ESUN government walked into the Main Chamber, took their seats, and had the doors locked behind them; they vowed that they would not be opened until a plan had been agreed upon. No one else had been allowed in and even when the doors were opened after the first day, the representatives, ministers, and aides would be escorted directly to their new offices in the building where they would spend the night. The purpose of this was that they were not allowed to speak to anyone outside of the chamber. The provisional Parliament was fragile, this was no secret. They and Preventers feared that the new government could easily be influenced or intimidated by outside sources and so the lock down was agreed upon._

_There were obvious objections, Wufei's being one of the louder ones, but in the end Une could only do what they asked and ensure a safe perimeter around the Capital Building. She had stayed to personally oversee the operation but sent Heero, Duo, Wufei, and Trowa to Rotterdam with Quatre. All lines of communication in and out of the building had been cut but Une saw to it that Dorothy had been given a small communication device that would not be picked up by the metal detectors, and transmitted at a secure frequency used only by Preventers; if anyone noticed the transmission, it would be one of Une's people._

_So Heero had grudgingly driven himself and the three other young men Quatre's estate some hundred miles away from ESUN's capital city; he was told only that Zechs and Noin would be waiting there and that Sally and her colleague and later Commander Une would be meeting them when Dorothy was able to get in touch with them. In the mean time, they were to keep a low profile and make sure that they were not missed._

_It was nearly 1:30AM when the door opened again and Commander Une entered followed by three others. Everyone in the room immediately turned to her. "I have Dorothy on the line. She has to stay very quiet so as not to be overheard; this means no questions for now, just let her speak."_

_She removed some sort of a transmitter with a large speaker from her pocket and placed it in the middle of the table. As everyone crowed around it she pressed one of the many buttons. "Alright Mis- Representative Catalonia, everyone's here, go ahead."_

_There was a crackle from speaker and Dorothy's voice rose from it in the form of a soft whisper. "Security is patrolling the corridors, so this will be short. The first thing that was voted on was an aide package; the fact that we need one passed unanimously. When the question became what to put in it and how to fund it things got difficult. They spent the rest of the day debating whether we should be focusing more on containing the disease or pouring all of our resources into finding a treatment for it. Finally -" She suddenly stopped talking._

_There was a tense moment of silence before her voice returned. "I thought I heard a guard in the hall." Speaking even more softly she continued, "Frankly, we were getting absolutely no where. There is a very strong sect that support anything Prime Minister Josef wants, but he his not made his opinion on this, or any other issue clear. Finally around 6:30 a Representative Gregory took the floor._

_He stated whatever we needed to do, it had to be done very quickly and endless debate was getting us no where. He wanted to invoke an old provision in the Constitution that, should a global emergency arise, would allow Parliament to shift its legislative power to the Prime Minister for a period of ninety days giving him the power to rule by decree."_

_"They can't do that! They'd be creating a dictatorship!"_

_"Maxwell, I said keep your mouth shut." Une hissed._

_Dorothy continued, "I agree, but the number of people that feel as I do are few and far between. Like I said, Josef has a very strong following with this group of people. Add to them the many who are too afraid to say no, and those who believe that everyone on the planet could be dead by the time Parliament comes to a decision and I believe that he will easily get the three quarters vote required to pass the motion." Her voice was bitter sounding and she practically spat the words._

_The room once again went quiet, before Une finally spoke. "Dorothy, in your opinion is something we should be concerned about?"_

_A small huffing sound came from the transmitter, "I've spent all night trying to discern that for myself Commander. The power shift would only last for ninety days and there is no question that Parliament's constant debating and arguing will not accomplish much, but . . . "_

_"You have reservations."_

_"I believe everyone in this room would agree that absolute power corrupts absolutely."_

_There was a silent agreement among those present, broken by a soft knocking coming from the transmitter on the table and the line was suddenly cut._

_Quatre realized that his heart was racing, he took a deep breath and allowed the gravity of what he had just heard to sink in. The heavy quiet hanging in the room was suffocating but he was not sure how to end it; Duo was kind enough to solve the problem with a thick sounding "So . . . what are we going to do?"_

_"There's nothing we can do." The voice came from one of the three people Une had brought with her, Quatre had entirely forgotten about their presence in the room. The man who spoke was in his mid to late forties; tall, strongly built, with sharp features and loose black hair with some streaks of gray starting to form. All eyes in the room turned toward him._

_Lady Une stood from her seat, "Forgive me, there wasn't enough time for introductions." She gestured to the black haired man, "This is Dr. Edward Cordell; he is a former Minister of the Earth Sphere United Alliance and now serves as a Professor of Governmental Affairs at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. He is also an old friend of mine who was agreed to take a leave of absence from his work in order to serve as an expert in Parliamentary and Government procedure for Preventers. There are not many within our organization with the skill and knowledge we will require to navigate these murky waters."_

_She turned to the two others, a man and a woman, both of whom looked in their mid twenties, both were wearing Agents Jackets, and both looked somewhat out of place. The man was on the skinny side, but it was obvious that his body was almost entirely muscle. He must have stood at around 6'2" towering over both Une and the other woman. His face was calm but partly obstructed by thick light brown hair which hung down to his shoulders and looked as though it had not been cut in quite some time. He was pale, with dark circles under his eyes brown eyes which shifted about the room almost giving an impression of amusement at the situation._

_The woman, on the other hand, looked more like she belonged at a rock concert rather than deciding the fate of a new government. Her red hair was pulled into a pony tail but Quatre could still see that it was streaked with strands of bright green that matched her eyes almost perfectly. She had a piercing in her eyebrow, another in her nose, and too many to count in her ears. Despite this, the features on her heart shaped face were still soft with large round eyes and a pleasant look about her._

_Une continued, "These are Agents Anthony Gord and Elizabeth Bentley. They work with our Covert Operations team and have been conducting under-cover operations in the colonies and the Lunar Base Settlement." She paused for a moment, probably noting the perplexed looks on the faces of those present. "Er, they have only just made it back to Earth and haven't had time to well, deal with their appearances._

_Anthony and Elizabeth are being reassigned and will serve as the go between for their new departments. Agent Gord, you will be joining Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell in Security and Intelligence; Agent Bentley, you will be working with Trowa Barton in Covert Operations." She indicated the respective men._

_Une gestured for all of to take a seat, after a moment everyone was situated. "Well this is it. You have all officially been assigned to the Yalta Task Force. Our only member not present is Miss Catalonia who, obviously will be serving as our inside eyes in Parliament. As far as all of you are concerned, none of you have regular contact with her or Mr. Winner. Both have been given code names and Agent status, but for all intents and purposes they are undercover civilians._

_I don't need to tell any of you the how suspicious we are of what is taking place. We have no definite answers to work with, only a terrorist organization who effectively wiped out a global government in a week with no discernable motive; they've made no demands and are not anarchist. We are doing everything we can to try and track them down but they've covered their tracks very well._

_On the other hand we have a newly formed and highly unstable government who one day into session looks as though they may already be taking steps that could seriously jeopardize the future of the Earth Sphere United Nation. We need to discover the motives and means of all those involved here, whoever they may be, regardless of what they are after and do everything in our power to return ESUN to its previous state."_

_"Unfortunately, as far as matters of the government go, we do not wield much power." The interruption came from Dr. Cordell. "Preventers, in essence has its hands tied. You cannot tamper with the inner workings of ESUN; in order to affect any change you will have to do so from the outside by finding other means of stopping those with malicious intents before they infect Parliament with them." He gave a slight chuckle, "It appears you will truly have to live up to the name of your organization."_

_Une nodded sharply. "I agree. Now before we continue, code names are as follows: Covert Ops: Barton, you're 'Arcadia'; Bentley, you've got 'Bretton'. Security and Intelligence: Yuy, Maxwell, and Gord; you are 'Casablanca', 'Cairo', and 'Cherchell' respectively. Special Operations: Chang, you'll be Tehran. Medical: Po will be 'Atlantic', Hall will be 'Dumbarton'. Undercover Civilians: Winner, you're 'Moscow', Milliardo and Lucrezia, you're 'Argonaut' and 'Crimea', Cordell, you'll be 'Malta' and Miss Catalonia will be 'Quebec'. Did I miss anyone?"_

_Duo raised his hand, "Uh yeah, what are you Chief?"_

_"Washington."_

- - - - -

Quatre carefully navigated his way through the flaming piles of wreckage. He wasn't sure why he was going to the bridge but it seemed like where he might be needed most. He made his way through what had once been the toll plaza. Climbing over the piles of splintered wood he saw that only about thirty or so feet of the stone bridge remained intact on this side, there was too much smoke to see over the other.

It was a gruesome sight, bodies were strewn across the pavement, vehicles burned everywhere around him, people were screaming, crying, begging for help. To his right there was a car which had been turned on its side; the under cage was burning and someone inside was yelling for help. Moving as quickly as he could through the wreckage around him he tried to signal to the person trapped inside that he was coming to help. They saw him and he saw a look of relief wash over their face before, without warning the entire vehicle suddenly burst into flames.

The force of the explosion threw him backwards; the heat on his face was unbearable and he put up his arms to shield himself from it as he felt his body bring flung through the air. Suddenly there was dull thud and all he was aware of was something hard connecting with the back of his head and he found himself unable to get back up.

'This shouldn't be happening' was all he could think, 'things weren't supposed to happen like this.' He tried to keep his eyes open, tried to stand up, but the more he tried the dark everything around him became until he was completely enveloped, his last conscious thought being 'How many times do we have to save the world?'

- - - - -

_The elevator doors opened with a 'ding' jarring Quatre out of his dazed state. Even during the war he slept more that this. Looking up it was Sally Po who entered. Trying his best to remain pleasant despite his state of exhaustion he screwed on a smile. "Agent Po - "_

_"Quatre please, Sally." She pressed the same button he had already had._

_"Erm, yes of course." Quatre looked to where her hand had just been. "I didn't know that you would be attending the meeting this afternoon."_

_"Yes, myself and Agent Hall were asked by Prime Minister Josef to be present. Frankly, I don't know why they need me, all the credit goes to Hall."_

_He wasn't sure whether or not he should ask what she was talking about, but his curiosity got the better of him, "Excuse me, the credit?"_

_Sally turned to him with a surprised look on her face, "You haven't been told what this meeting is for?"_

_"No, I only received a call yesterday evening requesting that I come to Brussels for this."_

_Her eyes narrowed a bit. "Who called you?"_

_"The Prime Minister's secretary; so what is this all about?"_

_Sally seemed to consider this for a moment and then reached for the panel of buttons in front of them again. This time however she pressed the 'Stop' button and brought the vessel to a grinding halt. "Before I answer your question I need to ask you something." Her voice was deadly quiet, "Did Dorothy vote in favor of giving Josef the power to rule by decree?"_

_Quatre was confused for a second, and the expression on his face must have registered with Sally, "Forgive me Quatre, this is the first I have left the Level 5 Biohazard Facility in almost a week. I haven't been kept up to date by the Yalta Task Force."_

_"Oh, I see." He too lowered his voice, "Yes, Miss Catalonia voted in favor of the motion. She managed to find time to communicate with Commander Une and Heero; they felt that because her one vote would not sway the result she should continue to try and win favor with Josef's supporters."_

_"So there is an inner circle in Parliament?"_

_"It is beginning to look that way." he said sadly, "Commander Une has suspected something right from the start; but as Dorothy said when we heard from her last week, it is very hard to tell. Everyone is so scared and panicked it is making it difficult to tell those who are legitimately trying to do the right thing from those with a vendetta."_

_He paused for a second, but she did not speak, so he continued. "I believe that part of their reasoning was that it will only be for a period of ninety days."_

_"You'd be surprised how much damage can be done in ninety days." The expression on her face was somewhat unreadable._

_"No, I wouldn't be." he said softly, without a hint of bitterness in his voice. There was silence again and again it fell to him to break it. "Forgive me, Agent Po, umm Sally. Why is Dorothy's vote important to this meeting?"_

_Sally turned to meet his eyes and he was surprised to see a smile on her face. "Because the Prime Minister is about to tell you and the CEOs of four other major companies that Agent Hall and his team have developed a vaccine for the virus."_

_Quatre had never before been so relieved in his life, he could barely form words. "A vaccine? But how? I mean, so quickly, and - "_

_"We've had our entire staff working around the clock since the outbreak. We couldn't wait around for Parliament to get their act together so we started on it ourselves. Once we were able to identify it as a mutation of several other diseases it was only a matter of trial and error until we found something that works. Given the situation we are being allowed to circumvent all the trial periods and approvals usually needed and will be starting production as soon as possible."_

_"That's why I was asked to this meeting?"_

_"Yes, Prime Minister Josef is hoping that yours and several other companies will consent to mass producing the vaccine at your facilities."_

_Quatre was still somewhat in a state of shock, not knowing what else to do he gave a short laugh. "Well of course, I mean, who would say no? My company is primarily located in space however."_

_"That's not a problem; the amount you will be able to produce will well make up for having to truck it back to Earth."_

_His head was still swimming. There was a vaccine, this nightmare was about to come to an end. "What does all this have to do with Dorothy?"_

_The smile on Sally's face quickly vanished. "Because I, like Commander Une, do not entirely trust the members of Parliament and I don't wish to leave a task of this magnitude to people I do not trust. I wanted to know if I had to be concerned about exposing Dorothy as a spy before I have you recommend her to the Prime Minister as a suitable chair for the committee that will oversee Operation: CLEAN SWEEP."_

_"Clean Sweep?" As he spoke Sally looked at her watch and again pressed a button on the panel of the elevator, which began moving again._

_"It's the code name we are giving to the plan to vaccinate the entire world against the Echidna Virus."_

- - - - -

"Sir? Sir, can you hear me? Open your eyes if you can hear me."

The first thing Quatre was aware of was the throbbing sensation in the back of his head, but as he tried to open his eyes and pull himself up it was quickly overpowered by the searing pain in his forearms.

"Don't try to move sir, someone will be right over with a stretcher to get you."

Quatre looked toward where the voice was coming from. A man knelt in front of him, but he couldn't make out his face in the dim light. He tried to speak, "H-how long ago . . ."

"Sir, please try to relax, you probably have a concussion. An emergency work will be right here to help you."

To weak and groggy to argue Quatre grunted and 'Okay.' and rested his head on whatever was behind him again. He tried to think rationally but for some reason his thoughts kept going back to that day in April. Maybe it was because that was really the beginning of all of this.

- - - - -

_The laser pointer in Dorothy's hand swooped rapidly across the screen positioned at the end of the long table. Quatre wasn't really listening to what she was saying; he had already been given all this information by the Yalta Task Force. The last few weeks had really begun to show on her. Her eyes were as bright and sharp as ever, but she looked tired, thin, and pale. Quatre caught a glimpse of himself in the window next to his chair and smiled to himself; they all looked tired, thin, and pale._

_"Over 90 of regions of reported in; we are estimating that one in every eleven people living on Earth was killed by the Echidna Virus."_

_"My God, tha- " one of the men present began._

_"Almost nine hundred and twenty million people." she finished for him. "The numbers are staggering." She paused for a moment, most likely to allow those in the room to take in what she had just said._

_Quatre took the opportunity to try and identify as many of them as possible. There were about fifty men and women in the room; the Prime Minister and his entire cabinet, several members of Dorothy's committee, the four CEOs of the other companies, and Commander Une, Sally Po, Theodore Hall, and Anthony Gord representing the Preventers. To Quatre's annoyance, he also noted several men in sharp deep blue uniforms lining the window and standing on either side of the door; they belonged to the Prime Minister's personal security team; The Assembly Guard, as he had christened them . No one was happy about their creation, but it was an exercise in futility to pretend that Preventers were not stretched to their limit. Commander Une insisted that keeping the members of the ESUN government safe was one of their top priorities, however Josef and many others felt they would be safer with "a force whose sole responsibility will be protecting the already vulnerable members of ESUN without worrying about saving the world." were Josef's exact words._

_Quatre couldn't say that he entirely disagreed with them; Preventers had lost almost 20 of their members at their global head quarters in Brussels. Many of the other field offices around the world were putting their losses at around 10 which was, for the most part, consistent with the global death toll. The exception of course, was South America._

_"I should qualify these numbers that I am setting before you," Dorothy continued, "If we were to remove South America from our calculations the death toll for the rest of the world drops to one in seventeen."_

_She nodded to the man who was sitting next to her laptop and an image was brought up on the screen behind her; it was a map of South America with large splotches to colors on it. Quatre correctly assumed these to represent the death tolls of that area. He noted with a grim feeling that many of them were colored red, which according the key on the screen meant a death toll of seventy-five percent or higher._

_"Because South America was where the beginning of the outbreak took place, it has suffered devastating casualty rates. We are estimating that roughly sixty percent of the population has died as a result of the Echidna Virus. Some cities have been almost wiped off the map." She turned to face those present. "Because of this, myself and the committee will be recommending that Parliament create a special bureau specifically to oversee the reconstruction and repopulation of South America."_

_As Dorothy finished and took her seat, Prime Minister Josef stood and walked to the front of the room. "Thank you Representative Catalonia, I believe I speak for all of ESUN when I congratulate you and your committee on a job well done." There was a smattering of applause._

_"Ladies and Gentlemen," Josef continued, "In light of what Representative Catalonia has just presented I feel confident to stand before Parliament tonight and announce the end of the epidemic. With that in mind we all have a considerable amount of work to be getting done, so I will suggest that we adjourn. I will mention this tonight as well, but please remember that Commander Une will be reporting to Parliament tomorrow on the Preventer's progress in tracking down the members of Leon's Army, the terrorist organization responsible for the attack, please plan to attend."_

_As Josef walked toward Une the room erupted into greetings and small talk. Quatre began gathering the papers that were spread out in front of him before rising from his seat._

_"Even though we've had it under control for a while now, I believe it will do the people good to hear the Prime Minister officially declare the epidemic over, don't you Mr. Winner?" Spinning around he was met with the cool smile of Dorothy Catalonia._

_"Representative Catalonia, I've been hoping to have the opportunity to commend you on Operation Clean Sweep. I never would have believed that a task of this magnitude could be accomplished in such a short time."_

_"You give me too much credit Mr. Winner. It's not hard to get the entire world to do as you say when their lives all depend upon it."_

_He wasn't sure if she was making one of her twisted jokes. "No, I suppose – " He stopped as one of the blue clothed guards approached from behind them._

_"Excuse me, Representative Catalonia?"_

_Dorothy turned to face him. "Yes?"_

_The young man straightened up. "I have a message for you from a Mr. Cairo, he says that the café on the corner of Glycines and Mimonsasstraat has that coffee that you love and that it's ground fresh at 7:30 every night." Without questioning the strangeness of the message, he turned and left._

_Quatre gave Dorothy a knowing look, which she countered with a wry smile. "I have some news to bring to the attention of Yalta. You know I cannot attend the regular meetings so I often have to arrange to meet someone in a public area under the guise of coffee with a friend."_

_"Is the friend always Mr. Cairo?"_

_She didn't answer, only continued what she had been saying. "I was hoping you would accompany me Mr. Winner."_

_"Only if you will please call me Quatre."_

_- - - - -_

_"Okay, so what if I go to like, Madagascar and say that I'm my own country?"_

_"They'd ignore you."_

_"Okay, so what if I steal a nuclear warhead and then go to Madagascar and say that I'm my own country?"_

_"They'd deal with you."_

_"What, like they'd invade me?"_

_"Technically, since they would have ignored the fact that you were declaring yourself independent of ESUN in the first place it wouldn't be an invasion."_

_"So what, they'd just call me a traitor and come try to arrest me?"_

_"No, they'd call you a terrorist and come kill you."_

_"Okay, so scratch that whole idea. Let's say I went to Japan – "_

_"Oh well if you go to Japan it's an entirely different story."_

_"Really?!"_

_"No."_

_Quatre could hear Dr. Cordell and Duo as soon as he and Dorothy entered. He spotted them in the far corner of the café just as Dr. Cordell took Duo's coffee cup from in front of him muttering that the last thing the younger man needed was more caffeine._

_"Aww come on! That's my first cup in like three and a half hours!" He spotted them walking towards the table. "Quat and Cat!" Duo stood to greet them. "Guys, I gotta tell you, Cordell here's freakin' amazing with all this government stuff, he knows it all! Right now we're trying to figure out a way for me to get my own country."_

_Quatre glanced sympathetically at the older man who sat with his head propped on his hand while the rubbed his eyes; he'd been Duo-ed alright. His voice was dry and deadpan as he looked in his and Dorothy's direction and spoke, "They let him carry a loaded gun?"_

_"Hey!"_

_Quatre did his best to try not to laugh, however the same could not be said of Dorothy. They took their seats as a young girl came for their order. They waited until she returned a few minutes later with two pots of tea, a scone, and a blueberry muffin before addressing the reason they had met._

_Duo leaned back in his chair. "Alright, so what's going on in that circus of yours now Kitty?"_

_Dorothy set down her tea cup and crossed her legs. "A number of rather disturbing things." She allowed Quatre to pour her more tea as she continued to speak. "As you know, in fifteen days, on May 14th Prime Minister Franz's 90 days to rule by decree will be up."_

_"Excited you'll finally get to do something yourself?" Duo couldn't resist the quip, however to Quatre's surprise Dorothy did not lash out at him._

_Her face was expressionless. "I, or anyone else for that matter, may never get the chance to."_

_Dr. Cordell's head jerked towards her. "What do you mean by that?"_

_She took a sip of her tea before continuing. "My participation with the committee for Operation: Clean Sweep has allowed me to earn the trust of the group of people I believe to be Josef's inner circle." She looked directly at Cordell. "Two days ago I was approached by Minister of the Interior Levi Kamenev. He casually mentioned that the Prime Minister and his Cabinet had been very impressed with my actions on behalf of the committee; so much so that he was hoping I would be receptive to Josef appointing me to a higher position in the end of May."_

_"And you said?"_

_"That I would of course be flattered, but by that time Josef would not be able to appoint me, it would have to pass through Parliament." She lowered her voice, "He then said that that might not be the case, and asked if I would be supportive of the Prime Minister seeking to extend the 90 day period so that he might be able to continue to oversee the reconstruction of ESUN."_

_As a reflex Quatre turned to Dr. Cordell who looked as though he had just been hit over the head with a ton of bricks. "They wouldn't!" He finally managed to gasp._

_"They would." Dorothy continued, "I'm not sure if I believe that they have the votes both to amend the ESUN Constitution to allow it, and then to pass the motion, but I do believe that they are going to try."_

_No one spoke for a moment; finally Duo broke the silence. "So . . . what can we do about this?"_

_Three pairs of eyes turned to Cordell who seemed beside himself. "Nothing . . . if they actually amend the Constitution there's nothing that we can do."_

_"So we're just going to stand around and watch this guy create a nice little dictatorship for himself?!"_

_Quatre motioned to Duo to keep his voice down but he understood his friend's frustration. Josef had won over the people of Earth after he guided them out of the Echidna Epidemic; but even considering that, they would never submit to a non-democratic form of government. This situation had the potential for war written all over it._

_"Tonight the Prime Minister will officially announce that ESUN is declaring the epidemic over," Dorothy spoke again, "Tomorrow, Representative Woodrow will make a motion on the Parliament floor to call for plans to be made to hold elections; my hope is that the Representatives of Parliament will feel less vulnerable after this and not be so quick to give Josef more power."_

_"Dorothy," Dr. Cordell uttered in a voice barely above a whisper, "how deep into Josef's inner circle are you?"_

_She looked unsure for a moment. "I won't fool myself into think that I've done more than only scratched the surface, but I also know that I am in too deep to try to turn around and come back out."_

_Cordell nodded, "As I thought. However, and you must do everything in your power to see this through Dorothy, there must be plans for an election before May 14th. Having an election is the only way to ensure to the people that the government wants its democratic system back, and this will encourage the world to want the same." He sighed and put his head back, "Duo and I will of course inform Yalta of everything you have just disclosed to us, but there is little that we will be able to do. This all falls on you and whoever you can sway to your side Miss Catalonia. If we wish to stop this from happening it will have to be done from the outside."_

- - - - -

Quatre closed his eyes as he was lifted into the ambulance. They had given a shot of morphine which had dulled the pain in his arms; even though they were wrapped in gauze and bandages he tried not to look at them. It reminded him of the smell of his own burnt flesh and made his stomach turn.

He had listened to the emergency workers as he waited for someone to move him off the bridge. They were still pulling people out of the canal, some in worse shape than others. No one could come up with even a guess as to what the death toll might be yet. Quatre hated that every year, for the past three years, had brought blood shed on this day.

The terrorist groups loved to use any anniversary day to wreak havoc upon innocent people, but August 23rd was one of their favorites. To Quatre, it was just one more insult to her memory; Relena had devoted her life to trying to bring peace to the world. And now, every year on the anniversary of her disappearance, the day that had been set aside to remember her, so many seemed bound and determined to destroy all she had worked for.

Quatre rested his head against the stretcher and wondered idly what had become of his cell phone. Dorothy would more than likely be beside herself when he didn't show up and news of the explosion reached her; he'd have to find some way to let his friends know that he was alright. In the meantime all he could do was close eyes and hope that they were safe and well.


	5. The One Inevitable Person

And here we are with Chapter Five, which just kept getting longer and longer. Originally this was supposed to be two separate chapters, but I thought that a) they worked better together, and b) that I wanted to get these set up chapters out of the way. Along those lines, the next one will be that last of those and I promise that it will start to answer some questions, so please hang in there. I apologize for any typos, it seems no matter how many times I read through this some will always slip by me.

Thank you again so much for the reviews; the upcoming chapter are some of the parts of the story that I have had written for a long time now so I hope they will meet your expectations. Enjoy!

Occam's Razor

Chapter Five – The One Inevitable Person

Tynan

Hilde rubbed the towel over her damp hair as quickly as she could; she could practically feel Dorothy's exasperation from the other side of the door. Running a comb through her short locks she noted with annoyance that she had not gotten all of black grease from under her fingernails but resigned herself to its presence. _'If I make Dorothy wait any longer she'll kill me.'_

She picked up a pair of oil smeared pants from the floor and removed her Preventer's ID badge from them, slipped it into her bag, and threw the pants in the laundry bin at the end of the long row of lockers. Shutting her own, she shouldered her bag and made her way towards the door pausing to say goodnight to some co-workers.

Hilde pushed the heavy, two-way, steel door open; it led to one of the many workshops that belonged to the Preventer's Engineering Division. The room, she had been told, used to be part of an old airplane hanger. It was easily over 90,000 square feet with eighty foot tall ceilings, concrete floors, and just about any piece of machinery one could imagine. Just to the right of the locker room door was a section full of large drafting boards, all of which were covered in blueprints, schematics, and measuring tools. Scanning the room she found Dorothy right where she had her: sitting at her desk trying to touch as little as possible. She stood as Hilde approached.

"Well, are you finally ready to go now?"

Hilde paid no mind to the impatient tone in her voice. "Sorry Dorothy, but would you have really wanted to be seen with me like that?"

"No, I suppose not. You did look pretty gross." She cast her friend her trademark wicked smile.

Hilde removed her car keys from one of her desk draws and gestured to Dorothy which direction to go. She looked at the blonde woman now walking beside her and all she could think was how tired she looked. At twenty-three years old Dorothy Catalonia was the youngest surviving member or the ESUN government, but she was also the one that most of them looked to for leadership. Hilde could easily understand why; she was confident, brave, and above all else smart. The stress that came with such respect and admiration however, was beginning to show on her.

"Is there something on my face Hilde?"

Hilde blushed and quickly looked back to the floor in front of her, not realizing that she had been staring. "No, no. Sorry, I was just . . ."

"It's fine. I often find myself staring in the mirror and wondering what the hell happened as well." She said this with a twisted smile on her face and a tone which would indicate she was making a joke.

Hilde however, did not find it funny. She was about to open her mouth to say so when a loud buzzing noise filled the air. Both women stopped and looked around them; it took Hilde a second before she realized what the sound was. "The PA system," she could feel the blood begin to rush to her head, "Something's happened."

A sharp male voice Hilde recognized as the Head of Engineering rang out over the speakers, "Attention, attention. There has been an explosion at the North Side Canal Bridges. All members of the First Civil Engineering Squad and the Emergency Response and Damage Assessment Team are to report to the head of their department for deployment to the scene. I repeat, there has been an explosion . . . "

Hilde stopped listening and turned to Dorothy. "That's me, I've got to go report in."

The taller woman looked, well almost disgruntled. "Y-yes, of course. Well, I suppose I'll just -"

She was cut off as Hilde took her by the forearm and pulled her in the direction from which they had just come. "Come with me, God only knows what could be happening." She expected the statement would draw protest form the other woman, but to her surprise she only nodded and continued to follow her.

All around them people in officer's uniforms, agent's jackets, and grease covered jump suits were scrambling to get to where they needed to be. Hilde hardly noticed them, her mind was racing; these sort of things were happening far too much for her liking. The team she was a member of had been formed with the specific purpose of dealing with the constant bombings that plagued much of Europe. She had been one of the first new members of Preventers to be assigned to the unit after its formation was made necessary in only a single day. It had been almost two and a half years ago, but she and almost everyone on the planet, could remember every second of May 3rd, AC 200.

- - - - -

_The streets were bright with the late morning sun; there was work to do back at the shop but nothing that couldn't wait until she had taken sometime to enjoy the weather. She and Duo had moved to Brussels almost two years ago when he had joined Preventers, but she had never really taken the time to walk around the beautiful city. Several weeks ago at dinner she announced to her somewhat confused boyfriend that they would be talking a walk at least four nights a week upon his arrival home. He nodded, his mouth full food, "Mmm, yeam hummy. That soumds grmeat." _

_She knew that there were other things he'd rather be doing after work every night but he went without complaint. After a short while it had become something they both very much enjoyed so she felt a little bad going for a stroll without him, but today was just far too perfect to spend it locked away in her repair shop. She turned a corner heading toward her favorite coffee shop with the sudden craving for an apple danish overwhelming her. She was so lost in her thoughts that she felt the ground shaking before she registered that there was a low rolling sound drifting in the air, then another right after it. _

_Hilde stopped and looked around her. Others on the street had noticed something as well and were all looking around in a confused manner. It couldn't be an earthquake, Brussels doesn't have earthquakes right? There was something familiar about the sensation and the sound. Another round of shaking and the strange noise, but this time both were more powerful. Raising her eyes to the clear blue sky above her she saw to her horror, two plumes of smoke rising over the city and suddenly remembered why she recognized the feeling. Without warning there was a noise like the sound of a dumpster being dropped by a garbage truck filled the air; someone screamed and she looked to where they were pointing just in time to see the twenty story building two streets down begin to collapse. _

_Instinct and training kicked in, she bolted the short distance to the end of the street, rounded the corner and flung herself against the building just as the cloud of dust and debris roared past her. She clamped her eyes shut and waited for the noise to dull. The seconds seemed to drag on forever but after what seemed like and eternity Hilde opened her eyes. _

_Everything was covered in a coating of grayish dust. People were staggering to their feet; no one seemed to be seriously hurt; the same could probably not be said of those who had been in that building. Hilde pulled the collar of her shirt up over her mouth and nose, the air was thick with pulverized concrete. Her ears were buzzing and her head felt as though someone had shaken her very hard. _

_She rubbed her temples and tried to focus on her surroundings; as she stepped away from the brick wall she began to hear the crying and screaming. The dust hung in the air like a thick fog, she felt her way around Hilde could have sworn that she heard music coming from somewhere but pushed it out of her mind. She could barely see ten feet in front of her and needed to concentrate. One of the voices sounded particularly close and she almost tripped over the old woman lying on the street calling out. _

_Hilde quickly knelt down beside her. "Oh, ma'am . . . here let me help you." She lifted the old woman to her feet, but she would not stand on her own. She was speaking but Hilde's ears were still ringing and she could only make out every other word, something about a cane. Not knowing what else to do she put her arm around the woman's waist and began slowly walking them both back to the wall she had taken refuge behind. The sound of sirens could be heard off in the distance; help would be here soon. _

_Hilde gently set the woman on the ground and took a seat next to her. She closed her eyes and tried to listen to the noises around her. She was still in a state of shock; this couldn't have been an accident, the ESUN capital was being attacked. The old woman was crying next to her, her face was streaked where tears had run down her cheeks. Hilde gently put a hand on her should and did all that she could to keep from breaking down into hysterics herself. The dust was very slowly beginning to settle and the sirens were louder; some must have been coming their direction. _

_She jerked her head up as the same music from before rang out from somewhere near her and then stopped after a moment. She was about to ask the other woman if she had heard it as well when it began again. Hilde strained her ears to listen before it clicked: her cell phone. Ripping open her purse she extracted the small device and flipped it open. "Hello?" There was muffled noise on the other end before a voice responded. _

_"Hilde, babe?! Oh thank God." Duo sounded relieved to say the least. _

_"Duo, you're alright?" She mentally kicked herself for not thinking to call her boyfriend and make sure he was safe; Duo didn't seem to notice though. _

_"Yeah, yeah I'm alright, we're all okay here." He let out in a long sigh. "Babe, where are you? How did you get out of there?"_

_For a moment she racked her brain trying to figure out what he might be talking about before asking, "Get out of where?"_

_He didn't answer right away, increasing her worry. When he did speak his voice was quiet and sullen, "Hilde, the first explosion brought down the building the next street over from our place, it leveled everything in a two block radius." _

- - - - -

Hilde sprinted down the long hall, her bag bobbed against her side. She had sent Dorothy in the direction of the Yalta Task Force's home base: Building A of the Preventer Head Quarters Complex. There was no need to be worried for her; this was probably the safest place for her to be right now and Dorothy could more than take care of herself.

As she turned the corner, she could see members of her team congregating at the end; all of them bore the red patches of the First Division's Emergency Response and Damage Assessment Team on their khaki and black work uniforms. As she trotted up to join them, Jordan Lexerd, the agent in charge of her team began to speak,

"Alright, we're going out immediately; the short version is this: Reports are that all three of the North Side Canal bridges were taken out. Rescues are still in progress so the actual extent of the damage is unclear. Both Preventers and local law enforcement need to take a lot of equipment out there and they need a 'go' or 'no go' from us as soon as we can give them one, so keep it quick, nothing fancy; reinforce and stabilize what you have to and move on to the next site. Questions?"

"What are the civilian casualties ma'am?"

"A lot; that's all we know at this point." She looked at the clip board in her hand. "Alright, Heavy Equipment Squad: Ettleman, Goekus, Johnson, and Morrison, you've each got a rig. Grab three guys each and get going, we'll be right behind you."

A dozen or so men and women shouldered their bags and left for the Equipment Bay. Lexerd continued, "Assessment Squad: Schbeiker you'll be taking point, get your team and go."

Hilde lifted her duffle bad and signaled to the other members of the squad to follow her. They walked briskly to the double doors that led to the motor pool, as she barked orders all the way. "Jacks, Ash, and Paulson, you'll take the first vehicle; Zudick and Azari, you're with me in the second. Make sure you all have your safety gear and check the trucks to see that they've got what we'll need. Head out as soon as you're ready, when you get to the site radio to me, I'll have instructions from Agent Lexerd by then."

She climbed into the back of the heavily armored military vehicle; Zudick was in the front seat preparing them to leave while Azari pulled open the various compartments in around her. "We're all set Hilde."

She maneuvered her way into the seat beside Zudick, who shifted into gear and began making their way towards the gate. As they pulled onto the road and began to speed towards the disaster site, Hilde closed her eyes and tried to picture the scene they would come upon. Three bridges, that was a lot even by recent standards. She thought back to when she had been assigned to this team; it had been created just as she had begun her academy training and was entered into it upon her graduation at Une's request.

The May 3rd bombing hadn't been the end. Though nothing that came after could even try to hold a candle to the devastation that was caused that day, smaller scale bombings had continued on an almost monthly basis, especially Europe, especially in Brussels. It was clear that a distinctive team would have to be formed and trained to deal with these. It had been Agent Lexerd that made the recommendation; several dozen members of the First Engineering Division would be selected to take part in the task force.

Upon entering the Engineering Division, Hilde's area of expertise was in military engineering, for the most part she built and designed temporary structures and weapons that could be assembled quickly and easily transported. This, and her experience with mobile suit and heavy equipment, made her an ideal candidate for overseeing the quick and impermanent reinforcement of damaged buildings. She still had her 'desk job' so to speak, but she enjoyed the field work. Her only regret was that the situations that required her attention usually came along with death and destruction. However, this is what she had signed on for; after all that she had seen she knew exactly what she was getting herself into.

- - - - -

_Hilde let her head rest against the window next to her. Nearly eight hours after the bombings the smoke and dust had finally begun to clear and revealed an eerie red sunset over Brussels. She had taken the old woman, her name turned out to be Emily, down the street to a pub where people were gathering to gawk in disbelief at the television. _

_The attacks in Brussels had in no way been an isolated incident; they were part of a global terror campaign. Twenty of the world's largest cities had fallen victim to near simultaneous bombings; Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, New Delhi, Moscow, Prague, Warsaw, Johannesburg, Cairo, Berlin, Paris, Rome, London, Stockholm, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, and Mexico City had all suffered large scale destruction and an unknown number of casualties. _

_Hilde had helped Emily into a seat and everything after that was blur of new reports and brief phone calls. She had sat and watched as reports from all over the world poured in; they showed pictures of leveled city blocks, interviewed survivors, and talked to experts. The accounts were all the same: sudden explosions that shook the city and brought down massive buildings. _

_She had been a soldier once, she had seen civilian damage before, but never like this. Emily sat next to her softly sobbing into a handkerchief; others were crying too, some, like Hilde, only sat in stunned silence. They had just survived the worst epidemic in the history of mankind, how could something like this happen so soon? After years of war was the human race destined to continue to destroy themselves until there was nothing left? _

_Her head swam with questions and thoughts but she had been brought out of them by her cell phone ringing once again. This time however it was Heero's voice on the other end. She and Duo were going to be staying in the spare bedroom in his home until they could find somewhere else. In the meantime however, he and Duo were not going to be leaving Head Quarters anytime soon. Duo had arranged to borrow someone from Covert-Ops to come and get her, give her the key, and take her to Heero's apartment. _

_Hilde hung up with him feeling a bit dumb. She understood how concerned Duo was for her safety, and knew that everything he did was out of love, however she was in no way, shape, or form incapable of handling herself. Regardless, an hour and a half later a black sedan had pulled up outside the pub and a thin woman with brilliant red hair and green eyes had gotten out. She introduced herself as Elizabeth Bentley and had been kind enough to agree to take Emily the ten blocks to her home. _

_Hilde had walked the older woman to her door and after a few more tears and an unexpected hug had climbed back in the car with Agent Bentley, whom she was quickly instructed to call 'Liz'. It was obvious that Liz was an accomplished member of the Preventers but she somehow looked out of place. Maybe it was her nose ring; she also had bright pinkish red marks in her eyebrow and all along the edges of her ears, like she had removed several dozen piercing and allowed the holes to begin healing. Despite her serious attitude and her sharp dealings with the unfortunate Preventers Officers at the dozens of road blocks they encountered, Hilde's impression of the woman remained that she reminder her very much of her boyfriend. _

_"Listen Officer Kurpke or whatever the hell your name is, I don't care if the Engineering Division hasn't declared the bridge safe yet, they've got their stuff parked all over it so clearly it's not going to fall out from under us if we use it!" Her rough British accent made her sound all the more intimidating. _

_"Ma'am," the young officer sounded slightly frightened, "I apologize, but the Agent in charge has closed this bridge until we get clearance. If you'd like I can let you through where the back way – " _

_"Fine, which way?"_

_The officer barely opened his mouth before Liz shifted the sedan into gear and sped off in the direction his hand was pointing. "'Cor, could Yuy have picked a more inconvenient place to live?" _

_"He didn't want to live in the city center. He likes his space I guess." she answered lazily. _

_"Yeah, I haven't really known the man that long but I could see him being that type. So, Duo tells me you used to be a mobile suit pilot." _

_Hilde was slightly startled that the woman beside her had such information and was so quick to mention it, "He did huh?"_

_"Said you two met during the war and that you were one hell of a soldier."_

_"I think he's probably just trying to make me sound good. I saw some combat, but not a lot." She began wondering just how much Liz knew about how she and Duo, and the rest of their group for that matter, had really met. _

_"So how come you didn't join Preventers with him?"_

_The question caught Hilde off guard and she thought for a second before answering. "Umm, well I guess I just never really thought about it. Duo and I were living on L2 after the war; we had a scrap yard and repair shop there. He only joined two years ago and that was just because Heero asked him to, as a personal favor." _

_"Those two are pretty tight, eh?" _

_"They're probably the best friend each of them has ever had."_

_"It's funny, 'cause you'd never guess it by just have a chat with them." She gave a little laugh that came off as something between a chuckle and a snort. "Your boyfriend's a bleedin' riot and Yuy's walking around like he's got an iron rod shoved a foot up his arse." _

_"Believe me," Hilde responded dryly, "Duo's offered to try and pull it out for him on more than one occasion." _

_Liz burst out laughing; her sound was contagious and Hilde found herself smiling for the first time since that morning. When she was finally able to speak again the redhead continued. "Don't get me wrong, I can tell Yuy's a good bloke and all, probably the one of the best we have, but, cor' the man's got to loosen up a bit. I mean alright, my partner Trowa, you two are friends yeah?" Hilde nodded, "Right, so Trowa speaks even less than Yuy, and talking to both is like having a conversation with a brick wall but at least with Barton you don't feel like the wall is thinking of killing you just to get you to shut up." _

_Hilde laughed a little again picturing Liz and Trowa working together; it was obvious which one did all the talking. Duo had told her about the Yalta Task Force, she knew that Liz and Trowa were the two members that were assigned to the Covert Operations team. As she and Liz sat in silence, Hilde began mentally inventorying her friends. Duo, Heero, Sally, and Wufei had been with Preventers for years now, Trowa, Quatre, and even Dorothy to an extent, had recently joined and were all doing what they could to try and restore order to the world. For the first time she felt an overwhelming sensation of uselessness. _

_"So what are you going to do now then?" Liz's voice jarred her from her thoughts. _

_"Huh?" she answered thickly._

_"Well, Duo told me what happened your house and your shop, so what are you going to do now?"_

_"I guess we'll be staying with Heero until things calm down and we can find another place."_

_"Right luv, but what are __you__ going to do?" She said this in an innocent tone, but Hilde knew what she was insinuating. _

_"I don't know." was her only reply. Both of them knew it was a lie._

_- - - - - _

_It was after 3:00 in the morning when Hilde heard the front door open. She had fallen asleep on the couch with the TV on; rubbing her eyes she tried to sit up and reached for the remote, but something warm and heavy on her stomach stopped her from doing so. Curled up on top of her was Heero's seven month old Siberian Husky, Hitomi. _

_"There are two bedrooms upstairs. You're supposed to be staying in the spare one." _

_Hilde jumped and turned around to be met with the stony gaze of Heero Yuy. "Heero." To the surprise of both of them she stood and threw her arms around his neck then pulled back quickly and awkwardly as Hitomi, clearly jealous, yipped at them from the floor. "Where's – " _

_"Duo's right behind me, he wanted to take his car here." Heero had knelt down to scratch the dog's ears. Hilde couldn't help but smile; when she had suggested giving her to Heero, Duo hadn't been sure that he'd want to keep the puppy but she had known that he would. It was strange at first but they seemed to have grown on each other. _

_"I fed her when I got here and we went for a quick walk."_

_"Hn."_

_Hilde took this as a thank you from the young man. He stood and went to the kitchen, the sound of four paws clicking on the floor behind him. Something seemed off about him, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. _

_The front door opened again and Hilde heard the unmistakable footsteps of her boyfriend's combat boots stroll down the hall. She rounded the corner and was met with a pair of strong arms being wrapped around her tiny frame. _

_"I thought you'd be in bed babe."_

_"I feel asleep on the couch trying to wait up for you." She leaned in to kiss him but to her annoyance he pulled back and mouthed 'Not now.' He untangled their arms and stepped back from her; turning around she saw Heero leaning against the door frame. _

_"You know where everything is?"_

_Duo smiled at his friend, "Wow, Mr. Hospitality huh? Don't worry, buddy we got it, get some sleep." _

_With a parting 'Hn' Heero turned to make his way up the stairs. Hilde watched her boyfriend stand near the bottom of the steps and listen for his bedroom door to close before he turned back to her. _

_"So what was that about?" She tried her best not to sound angry._

_Duo sat on the couch next to her and without warning pulled her into a long kiss. "I'm sorry babe, it was, well Heero's had a rough day." _

_"I think most of the world is having a rough day, Duo." _

_He scratched the back of his head absent mindedly. "Yeah, well . . . this hasn't made it onto the news yet, it'll probably be all over the papers tomorrow though." _

_"What will?"_

_He sighed and let himself fall into the back of the couch. "That group that started the Echidna Epidemic, The Army of Leon Cherheudohn, they're claiming responsibility for the bombings." _

_Hilde felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her. "They – that same group?" Her voice was growing strained as she tried to stay quiet. "How could – Wha- Why? Why are they – Did they even say why this time?!" _

_"They want Prime Minister Josef to resign and the ESUN Parliament to be dissolved."_

_Hilde felt herself getting angry now; just who the hell did these people think they were? "And why the fuck do they want that? I thought they weren't anarchists." _

_Duo sat up again to put his arms around her; he succeeded in calming her down a bit. "Cordell says they want a return to a non-global form of government; we think they want their own country so they can run it like a military dictatorship or something like that." _

_"And then what? They'll try to conquer the world?" She spat the words with morbid sarcasm._

_"Probably."_

_"So why is this making Heero's day particularly bad?" _

_Duo didn't answer right away, the expression on his face was making her nervous though for the life of her she couldn't guess what else might of happened. When he finally spoke his voice was tense, like he was forcing the words out. "These Leon 's Army guys are also claiming that they're the ones who kidnapped Relena last August, and they're saying that they executed her right after." _

_Hilde felt herself give up. She had been holding it in all day and had finally reached her breaking point. Without a word she collapsed into a sobbing heap against her boyfriend, who pulled her into him and stroked her hair. When Relena had first vanished Hilde had been certain that someone would find her best friend; but the days had turned into weeks, the weeks into months and not a single trace of her was ever discovered. She and everyone else had known they would probably never see her alive again, but there had never been anything to say that they wouldn't and Hilde had managed to hold out some sort of hope. Now that had been taken away from her. _

_She wasn't sure how long she and Duo sat there, but as her crying subsided Duo quietly uttered "Come on baby." She held his hand as the quietly padded up stairs past Heero's room and into the spare. It was clearly used only for storage; aside from computer parts and several large metal trunks Hilde suspected contained a small arsenal, there wasn't much in there. Before Heero and Duo had gotten back she'd dug the air mattress out of the hall closet and set it up. Hilde shut the door behind them as Duo pulled off his uniform, flung the covers on the makeshift bed aside and collapsed on top of it. _

_She crawled into bed beside him and rested her head on his chest. "Duo?"_

_"Yeah babe?" She could tell he was on the verge of passing out._

_"Do you think they're telling the truth, ya know, about Relena."_

_She felt him squeeze her a little, "I don't know Hilde. They sent a letter to Zechs again, half the crime staff is looking at it now . . . I mean, I hope not, obviously, but . . . we'll just have to wait I guess." _

_Hilde felt around for his hand and took it in hers lacing their fingers together. She pulled herself up so she was looking straight into his eyes and blurted out what had been on her mind all night. "Duo, I want to join Preventers." _

_He didn't react at first and when his expression changed it was unreadable. "Hilde, I know that everything's that's happened – " _

_"I want to join Preventers, Duo. I'm not asking your permission, I'm telling you that I'm going to." _

_At first he didn't speak, when he did Hilde could tell he was choosing his words very carefully. "I know, and I know that you'd be great and everything but babe - " _

_"Damn it Duo!" she was getting upset again, "I was a soldier too! And I'm not saying that I want to be an agent or even do field work for that matter, but, well I'm a good engineer, probably better than half the idiots skulking around that place now, and we both know I'd blow through the entrance exam and the training academy and . . ." she had to stop to force back a sob, "And all of you go off every day and save the world, a- and I want to help now." _

_Duo's face softened from shock to understanding. He pulled both of them into a sitting position to look her better. "You're right." She smiled a little in spite of herself. "You're right, I'm sorry. I- I just, I love you babe, and I get worried." Again he put his arms around her, "when they told us about that building falling on our place, I-, Sally had to take me out the room we were in, I just shut down and I kept thinking 'This is it, I've actually lost her.' Sally's the one who was calling you ya know, I couldn't even hold the phone I was just in shock; when you answered she just handed to me with this big grin on her face. I don't think I've ever been that happy in my life." _

_"Don't you think that I worry about you constantly? You're not indestructible, but you act like you are and I know that you're good at what you do, but that doesn't keep me from worrying. I don't want to make you neurotic that something is going to happen to me, but, well I miss it. I loved having the shop and the work I was doing and everything, but that's all gone now and maybe it was like, a signal for me to start a new part of my life or something." _

_"You're right babe, as always". He chuckled a little. "You'd think I'd stop trying to win arguments at some point." _

_She smiled and kissed his cheek. She knew that his head must be racing, trying to come up with any possible way to keep her from doing this, which is why his next statement surprised her. _

_"When things calm down in the next week or so I'll talk to Une and see about getting you into the next entrance examination group. She'd probably fast track you through the Academy; you won't need the basic training most of the new recruits do." _

_"Thank you, Duo." This is why she loved him. She knew he was worried about what might happen to her, but he would support her no matter what she wanted to do. Hilde relaxed against him and felt herself beginning to drift off. She knew they were only twenty years old and that they had their whole lives ahead of them but, she couldn't imagine hers with him. _

_"Duo?"_

_"Yeah babe?"_

_"I feel so awful for Heero."_

_"Me too, babe."_

- - - - -

The truck came to a grinding halt near the bottom of what only an half an hour ago had been a pedestrian walk way. Hilde pushed the door open and surveyed the scene. Helicopters hovered above the water, shining lights into the dark below them probing for survivors. Rescue crews ran about their business all around them while the Heavy Equipment Team, despite have left only a few minutes before them, was well into the process of setting up flood lights.

Large, white tents had been set up right on the banks of the canal; horrible screams were coming from them as the medical personnel inside did everything they could to help the victims of the attack. The air still smelled of smoke, gasoline, and charred human flesh; that combination had become familiar to all of them, but it still made Hilde nauseous.

Pushing the sick feeling whaling up inside her stomach out of her mind she turned to her team, ready to focus on the task at hand.

- - - - -

Dorothy poured herself a cup of coffee; however after a quick whiff of the dark liquid she thought better of it and emptied the contents of the paper container into the sink. It was nearly 9:00 at night, who knows how long that had been sitting here. For at least the tenth time in five minutes she looked to her right and out of the floor to ceiling windows at the end of the room. Brussels shimmered and glowed thirty-seven stories below her, but beyond the lights she could see the thick plumes of smoke rising off in the distance.

She stepped out of the break room and took a moment to scan the area around it. All was quiet for the most part with the exception of the occasional sound of footsteps running down the hall. She knew this area of Preventer's HQ well having spent a considerable amount of time here over the past two and a half years. As Dorothy began to walk down the hall she passed her friend's offices, all of which were empty. Most of them had probably left for the night already and were either sitting at O'Malley's waiting for her and Hilde or on their way to the site of the explosions.

And where was she? Locked in an office building almost completely devoid of people and told to sit tight. She mentally scoffed at herself; this was pathetic. Never before in her life had Dorothy Catalonia been forced to run or hide from anything; but now she was watched and guarded nearly every second of the day. Even to come to Brussels from the Sanq Kingdom had been a chore; eventually she decided the best course was to just leave, there was nothing her security team could do to stop her.

Then of course, this happened; these attacks would only serve to confirm the fears of her team leader: Brussels was simply too dangerous for someone of her stature and importance. Her reply to this, naturally, was that not only did she not care, but she could handle herself. In reality she had very little desire to venture back to Brussels, but today was different. Right now she should be sitting with her friends in a pub in the Old City District getting too drunk to remember why they were all there in the first place.

Relena. She missed her, they all did. Dorothy had always held her friend in high regard, but it was not until after Relena disappeared and she had entered the world of politics that she truly came to understand the complexity of her life. Relena had been a much more patient person, much kinder and more compassionate; Dorothy would not kid herself into believing she was any of these things. When Heero would demand that Relena jump through some sort of ridiculous hoops in the name of her own safety, she did so wordlessly. If anyone on Preventers made a suggestion to Dorothy that would inconvenience or shelter her they were not even given the dignity of a response.

She was not a diplomat, she never claimed to be one. She was there for one reason and one reason only: to wage war against a man who had the audacity to consider himself worthy to rule the world and those that followed him. When all of this was over, and she would see to it that this would end, she'd slip out of the spotlight and back into the shadows. In the meantime she could not allow herself to sit idly by and watch as people who had no place in the leadership of the planet try and claim it for their own.

- - - - -

_Dorothy tried her best not to look as impatient as she felt but she did not like the notion of someone else sitting in __her__ Parliament office, behind __her__ desk, going through all of __her__ personal files right in front of her face. True, this person was Heero Yuy and yes, he was doing a favor for her, and of course should Heero had actually wanted to read of her personal documents he would not have to come into her office to do it; but none of this meant she had to like it. _

_Dorothy glanced at her watch; Heero's fingers had been flying across the keyboard for almost half an hour now, this was taking longer than both of them had expected. In her mind this confirmed that her fears were justified. Several times over the past week or so she had entered her office and gotten the distinct impression that something seemed out of place. She had managed to push these thoughts to the back of her mind until the day she noticed one of her desk drawers had been knocked off the runner. _

_Ordinarily this would not have alarmed her were it not for the fact that this particular drawer had a transmitter carefully concealed under a false bottom. That transmitter could be activated by her shutting the drawer at which point it would record and wirelessly send any conversations held in the office to her computer which Heero had programmed to forward them directly to Commander Une who would then in turn pass them on to Dr. Cordell. He was able to determine whether or not they held any significance to the directive given to the Yalta Task Force. _

_They had found the transmitter undisturbed but Heero had wanted to make sure no one had tried to access the files on her computer. The files were extremely well hidden and encrypted; Dorothy herself could not have looked at them if she wanted to. Her computer served as an intermediary for getting the information to Preventers; she didn't see how anyone else could have possibly known about it but Heero wanted to be sure. Fifteen minutes tops he had assured her, but here they were half an hour later. _

_"We may have a problem."_

_Dorothy looked to where the dark haired man was glaring at her laptop. "Are you going to elaborate?"_

_"Someone accessed the folder two days ago. They don't seem to have opened anything but someone knows that it's here." _

_Dorothy rolled her eyes. "Fantastic. I don't suppose there's any chance that this someone just hacked my computer from a different location?" _

_"No, they would have had to do it from this computer." He shut the laptop and put it in his bag. "I have to take this with me and have it destroyed." _

_"Go right ahead." Her voice was angry, someone had been in her office going through her computer files. She had always known those Assembly Guards, or whatever the hell Josef called them, were worthless; but they had now graduated from worthless to a threat. She went to her coat rack and pulled on the jacket to her business suit. Heero was still at her desk packing away some of the equipment he had brought. _

_"Any time today Yuy." He raised his head and gave her a questioning and annoyed look. "I have to be in my seat in Parliament in twenty minutes." _

_There was a faint 'Hn' from his direction as Dorothy turned to open the door; she stepped outside and waited as Heero followed her. "Your cover may have been blown; I'll go back to head quarters and Une and I will try to figure out the damage. I'll arrange to meet with you tonight and we'll go over what to do next." _

_"Heero, darling, if we have to keep meeting in secret like this people are going to start to talk." The sarcasm in her voice didn't seem to register with the young man who turned to leave but stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of another voice. _

_"Ah, Representative Catalonia." Minister of the Interior, Levi Kamenev, emerged from around the corner. Dorothy saw Heero's eyes narrow but managed to screw on her most sincere smile and pleasant voice. _

_"Why, Minister Kamenev, " she shook his hand, "Were you just in the area or is there something that I can do for you?" _

_"Just passing through I must confess, however I am very happy to have run into you, Miss Dorothy." He stopped for a moment and glanced in Heero's direction, the Preventer was giving him a look that might have killed a lesser man, however Dorothy knew Kamenev was no one to be trifled with. _

_"Oh, forgive me," she said as casually as possible, "this is Agent Yuy - " _

_"With Preventers," Levi finished for her, "Yes, of course. We are all familiar with your outstanding reputation." His voice was quieter suddenly, "You were the agent in charge of Foreign Minister Peacecraft's security were you not? I was so sorry to learn of her fate last week; her safe return was of course always in my prayers. She will certainly be missed." _

_Dorothy tried to keep her face calm, this bastard actually managed to sound upset for a moment there. She looked to Heero who said nothing but looked as though he might lunge for the man's neck at any second. Dorothy was about to break the tense silence when Kamenev beat her to it. _

_"Well, I have no doubt that the Preventers Bureau will bring these terrorists to justice. The world of politics can be so dangerous, Miss Catalonia." He sounded almost dream like, as though telling a whimsical fairy tale to a small child. "I have been living in it for much longer than you, and oh the stories I could tell. You would not believe the sort of skeletons some are able to keep hidden in their closets, or rather in their offices, as the case may be." His lips curled into the slightest of smiles and Dorothy was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to throttle the old man. _

_"People you thought held similar beliefs and wished to work towards the same goals as you did, might suddenly be revealed to not only not support actions which you are taking for the greater good, but may actually be working against them in secret." His voice dripped with an innocent tone. "Even after all of my years in the political arena, I have still not managed to perfect the art of discovering those with malicious intents." _

_Dorothy tried to keep her expression as one of interest but not curiosity. She was barely listening to what Kamenev was saying now. The words had stopped mattering; he had made his point quite clear. "Surely Minister, you don't believe that there are people within ESUN looking to do harm to this government?" She spoke evenly but clearly articulated what she wanted to; two could play at this game. _

_He looked as though he were caught off guard by her question, but he recovered quickly. "Why Miss Catalonia, I would think that someone from a family like your own would know that there are always those who would work against the people who are only doing what they can to bring stability to troubled times. However," he lowered his voice and took a step closer to her, "what is most important to remember is that a demonstration of solidarity and support for the greater good, one for all the world to see, would easily make the allegiance of any individual clear. No matter what the reasons were that their loyalty may have come into question at an earlier time, all would certainly be forgiven." _

_Dorothy knew she was glaring at him now, she didn't care. He said nothing as he took her hand and brought it ceremoniously to his lips. With a parting 'My lady' and a nod to Heero he left in the direction of the Main Chamber. _

_She was seething. She looked over to where Heero stood looking just as angry as she did._

_"He knows."_

_Dorothy rounded on him mercilessly, "Thank you Agent Yuy, I'm so glad that there are people like you in Preventers to point out the incredibly obvious to us dumb politicians." _

_She knew Heero wasn't paying attention to her; in the time she spoke he had already opened her office door and was pulling her inside. He shut the door behind her. "We have five minutes to figure this out; there's no time to call Une or Cordell – " _

_"__We__ will not be figuring anything out Yuy. I am the ESUN representative, this is my responsibility to Yalta, and quite frankly you are not well enough informed on the intricate inner workings of politics to be offering advice; I will handle this." Her tone was sharp and biting; she wasn't mad at Heero, she was mad at herself for allowing this to happen, for allowing someone like Minister Kamenev to discover her so easily. It was clear to everyone on the Yalta Task Force that something undesirable was taking place in the ESUN government and she had been their only inside source to discover what it was. Now she had ruined that chance for them. _

_Her mind was racing as she reached for the door; Heero's hand grabbed her wrist to stop her from opening it. "I'll be waiting for you once you're finished your business in Parliament to take you into protective custody." _

_"I'm not going into protective custody – "_

_"Your life may be in danger; until we know what else Minister Kamenev has managed to find out and what he plans to do with it – "_

_"There's nothing that he, or anyone else can do to me, Yuy. I haven't done anything illegal."_

_"Do you think that will stop them from – "_

_She pulled her arm out of his hand and snapped at him, "Heero, I don't have time for this right now. If I'm going to salvage anything for Yalta I need to leave this moment."_

_He didn't stop her; as they parted he only reminded her that she was being put under the protection of Preventers and not to leave the building without them. _

_She dashed down the hall, passing several bewildered politicians heading in the same direction. The she came to the end of the East Wing and it opened into the huge entrance room of the Capital Building . The room was nine stories tall; the center of each level was open to reveal the ones above and below it. Dorothy stepped up to the railing, she looked down to the first floor beneath her. After a few seconds she made out the unmistakable forms she was searching for as they entered the building. Taking four flights of stairs faster than she ever would have thought possible, Dorothy burst into the main floor and looked in the direction her quarry should have been, sure enough there they were. She walked over to them as fast as she could without drawing attention to herself. _

_"Representative Woodrow! Representative Franklin!" The two men stopped at the sound of her voice and turned to face her. Woodrow managed to keep a pleasant but questioning look on his face; Franklin on the other hand made no qualms about scowling in her direction. This was understandable she reasoned; Franklin and Woodrow had been staunchly opposed to giving Josef the power to rule by decree and nearly everything that he'd done with it. To both of them, she was nothing more than a mindless pawn of his, willing to do whatever the beloved Prime Minister asked of her, regardless of her own feelings. It was time to change that perception now. _

_"Why Representative Catalonia," Woodrow began, "you look panic stricken, ma'am. Is everything alr-"_

_"Sir, I'm very sorry, but there is little time to explain and I need your help." she answered breathlessly._

_"We will not be voting in favor of extending the Prime Minister's power to rule by decree Miss Catalonia so if that is what you're after we should end this conversation now." Franklin interrupted her, his voice was angry, "Not all of us are so easily intimidated as -" _

_"I will be voting against the motion as well." Her voice was cold, as if the notion of them ever believing otherwise was idiotic. Dorothy knew her temper was beginning to rise and took care to try and reel it in._

_Both men were clearly taken back; the looked to each other then back at her. Woodrow finally spoke, "Well Representative, I, well I am very glad to hear - " _

_"Now that I have your attention, could we find somewhere quieter to talk?"_

_"Miss Catalonia, the vote of which we are speaking is to begin in ten minutes." _

_"I must insist Representatives, this is far more important."_

_It was a moment before Woodrow gestured for her to lead the way. They stepped to one of the many corners of the large room; she looked around to make sure that they were as alone as they could be before speaking. "I don't have time to give you all of the details and I am left with no choice but to trust that both of you will not reveal what I am about to tell you. I am not a supporter of Nicholas Josef; I have been working with the Preventers Bureau since the outbreak of the Echidna Epidemic. Commander Une had been suspicious of Josef's motives and wanted someone on the inside to try and discern what he was doing - " _

_"I know." Franklin suddenly interrupted her. Now it was Dorothy's turn to look shocked. "I know about the Yalta Task Force, Representative Catalonia, I am the one that suggested the need for it to Commander Une. However, for your own safety, I was not told that you were the individual that she had managed to sway to her side." _

_"I volunteered as it were." The comment came out a little sharper than she had intended. "What I need to tell both of you is that I have been discovered. Josef's entire cabinet probably knows." _

_Woodrow looked very surprised at everything that was being said, apparently he had had no prior knowledge of Yalta, but did not say anything. Franklin, on the other hand became very stern looking and lowered his voice. "You're sure?" _

_"Yes, I'm sure. Minister Kamenev just approached me outside my office and made it very clear that he knew. He then suggested that in order to redeem myself, I would need to take some part in putting the motion before Parliament and seeing to it that it is passed." _

_"Sadly, Miss Catalonia, your vote will have very little bearing on whether or not the motion is passed." Woodrow finally spoke. _

_"Yes, Mr. Woodrow. Josef has more than the votes he needs no matter what the three of us do. This wasn't the case two weeks ago, but the global attacks by Leon's Army have thrown everyone into a panic and again, they feel as though they are not safe. Josef led them out of one crisis, they'll look to him to lead them out of this one. He's exploiting this government and tragedies the world is suffering for his own political gain, something has to be done about this." Ordinarily she would not have allowed herself to sound so much like, well Relena, but she had to do all she could to bring these men to her cause; they were Josef's largest sources of opposition._

_"And what do you suggest that something is?" _

_Dorothy took a deep breath; she had formulated the plan in her mind on the way from her office to where she was standing. She knew that was she was about to suggest was political suicide as far as the current administration was concerned, but there was no other way. "I'm going to challenge the motion on the Parliament floor and recommend that a committee be formed for the purpose of investigating Josef and bringing him up on charges of exploitation of an appointed position and impeached. I know enough about the working of his inner circle to at the least launch and investigation." _

_Woodrow gawked at her, Franklin's lips were turned into the tiniest of smiles. "And that is why you need our help?" _

_"I need both of you and two more Representatives to vote to support the motion in order to the five votes so that a committee can be formed. There is nothing we can do to prevent Josef from passing the bill before us today but if we can hold elections while he is being investigated we can remove him from office." _

_"You do realize that you will be exposing your true loyalties?"_

_She nodded. "All of them already know; at least this way we can expose Josef and his cronies for trying to take advantage of a vulnerable government. The people of Earth will not stand for that after the years of war they have been through at the hands of dictators and will demand something be done about it." _

_Franklin was now smiling, "Well said, Miss Catalonia ." He put a hand on her shoulder, "I cannot express to you how much I admire your courage. If I may be so bold as to say so, I never would have believed you were anything more than Josef's tool; I must apologize for under estimating you. Representative Woodrow and I will see to it that you have those additional two supporting votes, more if we can muster them. Now we must be going; I have only five minutes to find Representatives Dern and Stimson and tell them of your plan." _

_The two men left, it could have been her imagination but Representative Franklin's limp did not seem as bad. She waited for both men to get a decent head start before following them herself. The lobby outside the main chamber was full of its usual chatter as the members of the ESUN Parliament slowly filed into the large room. _

_She watched the people around her as she joined them in their ceremonial migration to their seats. A feeling she hadn't had in too long began to overwhelm her; she was about to change the course of history once again and those around her had no idea. _

_Slowly every single seat was filled and Minister Kamenev took the floor. He began the tirade she knew that he would; rambling on about the support Preventer's would need from the Parliament to bring Leon's Army to justice, that these terrorist were out to destroy what they had worked so hard to build, that they must allow Nicholas Josef to remain in power until they had been eradicated, that to keep him from continuing to guide them out of this crisis would be to give in to their demands. These people, he went on, had no respect for the peace the citizens of Earth wanted more than anything else. They had to stand together behind their leader for the good of, not just their government, but their way of life. _

_He finished and sat to roaring applause. Dorothy did not clap, neither did Franklin who was seated several rows in front of her. Predictably, Representative Alexander stood and called for silence; quiet befell the room as he formally made the motion to extend Prime Minister's power to rule by decree until he declared the crisis to be over and asked for the four additional supporting votes needed to put the issue before Parliament. Immediately, Representative Ilyich gave a second and Representative Ulyanov a third. _

_There was a moment of quiet before Representative Carlson stood and added the fourth required supporting vote. Dorothy looked to Minister Kamenev who was staring straight at her, his face blank. She smiled at him knowing she was about to make his life a living hell. He must have understood because he nodded to the other side of the room; Representative Heinrich immediately took her cue and stood to offer the fifth and final needed vote. _

_The room erupted into cheers; Josef stood from his seat to walk to the podium in the center of the room. "My dear friends and colleagues, I am both honored and humbled to be entrusted with this unprecedented power you have seen fit to bestow upon me. If it pleases those gathered, we will now begin the vote that will officially decide. Would Minister – " _

_It was now or never. "I use my right to challenge!" She was surprised by the volume of her own voice as she stood from her seat. The entire room had fallen dead silent, hundreds of pairs of eyes stared in her direction, Kamenev looked furious, Josef only looked shocked. _

_"Representative Catalonia, surely you don't mean – "_

_"You heard me correctly Prime Minister." Her voice dripped with distain. "I use the right given to all members of the Parliament of the Earth Sphere United Nation to challenge the outcome of a motion which has been put to a vote. I move for a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Josef." There was immediately a wave of murmurs and some cries of outrage. Josef seemed to be scandalized, but it was Minister Kamenev who stood and spoke. _

_"And on what grounds, Representative Catalonia, do you move for this vote?"_

_"I plan to form an investigatory committee with the intentions of bringing charges against Prime Minister Josef. The findings of this committee will conclusively prove that the Prime Minister, knowingly and without concern for the consequences of his actions, acted with depraved indifference when he and several members of his cabinet manipulated the ESUN Parliament into gaining more power and control for himself in the time of a global crisis." _

_The mumbling had ceased, and was broken when Representative Franklin stood, cane in hand, and spoke as loudly as he could. "I second the motion put forth by Representative Catalonia!" _

_"And I offer a third!" She did not know the name of the woman who said this._

_"The motion has my vote as well!" Representative Woodrow looked pale and nervous, but his voice was strong._

_"And mine!" "Mine as well!" Two more men stood to give their support at the same time. The motion had passed its initial trial, a committee could be formed. Yelling erupted from the Main Chamber. _

_"Order! This room will come to order!" Kamenev pounded the gavel in his hand against the podium. Josef stood just to his right looking as though he'd had the wind knocked out of him. As those present began to fall quiet once more the Minister of the Interior continued. "Regardless of Representative Catalonia's motion this Parliament can and must vote on the matter at hand. We will begin this immediately." _

_Dorothy leaned back in her seat as the Parliament members slowly began to file to the front of the room to register their vote. The motion to give Josef even more power would still pass, but maybe not but such a large margin. It would be over two month before she could form her committee and bring anything before the representatives, and put the impeachment to a vote; but hopefully by that time they could have plans for an election in place. She had planted the seeds of doubt in her mind, she could see it on their faces. _

_To her left, Ryan, her young, unsuspecting aide looked pale and shaken; she was in a good mood and the opportunity to torment him was too prefect to pass up. "Well, Mr. Erickson, I would say that we've succeeded in restoring Parliament to its former state of chaos." _

_If possible he became even paler, "Um, yes Representative Catalonia."_

_She smiled wickedly and made her way down the stairs to the floor to cast her vote. It had been years since she felt this exhilarated. Government was nothing more than a form of organized chaos, and from that chaos leaders would arise and try to take control of the pandemonium. Some of them would succeed, other would only make it worse; Josef had eradicated it completely leaving no room for anyone else and this she would not stand for. _

_In order for anything to function correctly, there had to be a power struggle, people working against one another. To have no opposition is to have a dictatorship, and there was no glory to be found under those conditions. This had been her life for as long as she could remember: to constantly create the twists in the fate of humanity from the shadows. She did not want to be a leader, but was more than happy to create the necessary chaos. _

- - - - -

"Hello, you've reached the cell phone of Quatre Raberba Winner. I'm not - " She hung up for the fourth time. Dorothy was not at all surprised that Quatre was not answering his phone; she was surprised that the fact that he wasn't worried her so much. She loved him, it had taken her a while to come to terms with this but he had been patient with her. He was kind and understanding person, in her opinion he should be made a saint for putting up with her. It was so easy to forget what he was capable of under that calm and caring exterior.

She sighed and looked at her phone, debating whether or not to call him again. There was no doubt that he was more than capable of taking care of himself but that didn't keep her from being concerned. The existence of the Yalta Task Force was still not widely known, but it had soon become obvious that both her and Quatre had close ties to Preventers. Coupled with their powerful day jobs, the both of them were potential targets for several groups with a vendetta.

- - - - -

_Duo was waiting for her outside the Main Chamber, leaning casually against one of the marble columns in the lobby dressed in his civilian attire. He spotted her immediately. _

_"Well, well, if it isn't the great rebel rouser herself."_

_"Yuy sent you rather than come himself?"_

_Duo feigned a hurt look, "And here I thought you'd be happy to see me, but obviously I'll just never be anything to you as long as Heero's still around." he spouted dramatically._

_Dorothy rolled her eyes, she was in no mood for his antics. "How someone like you became one to the leading agents of the Preventers Bureau is beyond my ability to comprehend Maxwell. I swear to God the man who entrusted you with a Gundam should be brought up on charges of inexcusable stupidity." _

_"Well, I don't disagree with you there." He grinned at her, she hated when he completely ignored her insults._

_"I'm not coming with you Maxwell, I have to begin putting together my committee for – " _

_"Actually Miss Quebec, you don't have much say in the matter." _

_She sighed, Yalta business. "I take it Heero told you what happened." _

_Duo shrugged at her and gestured for her to follow him, "If you ask me it was only a matter of time. Une wants us to figure out what our next move is." They made their way outside and stopped, Duo pulled his cell phone from his pocket and punched a few buttons. He did not hold the phone to his ear and she could hear it ringing, after a moment he hung up. _

_"Where are we going?"_

_"Not now." he answered quietly. Even as he spoke a long black car pulled up to where they were standing; Agent Gord was in the front seat dressed as a chauffer but other than that was slowly beginning to return to his normal appearance. Upon meeting him, Dorothy's first impression was that the man looked some thing like a reanimate corpse from one of those awful horror movies Duo loved. Quatre had later explained to her that before being reassigned he was a member of a covert operations team and that look was apparently fashionable among some groups of people. Anthony, had put on enough weight to look healthy again, his hair was still long but now pulled into a neat pony tail, and his tattoos had been revealed to be excellently done fakes. _

_She followed Duo down the steps to the vehicle and allowed him to open the door for her. The inside of the car was strewn with folders and notepads covered in Duo's scrawl. She tried to slide across the seat without disturbing anything, Duo climbed in beside her. The window that separated them from Anthony in the front seat slid open, "Did you scan her?" _

_"Tony, chill man." Duo replied._

_"I take that as a 'no' then."_

_"Man, how many times are we going to go through this? She doesn't need to be scanned."_

_Dorothy did not appreciate being talked about as though she were not present. "Scan me for what gentlemen?"_

_"Tracers," Anthony turned around to face them, "someone could be trying to follow us, they can hide them just about anywhere. Some of the newer ones can actually be inserted into the target's blood stream and are near impossible to remove again without extremely invasive surgical procedures." _

_"So Cat, I guess instead of a scan we could just ask you if anyone has walked up to you stabbed you with a needle lately." Duo's tone was somewhat exasperated, "Tony, just drive buddy, people are starting to look at us." _

_He did as he was told. Duo relaxed against the seat behind him and picked up one of the many folders in the vicinity. Dorothy looked over his shoulder to see it was full of photographs; mostly grainy pictures of people lurking in lobbies and parks. "Are those - " _

_"Some of the known leaders of Leon's Army, yeah." He handed her the folder and picked up another. Most of the pictures were the same, she didn't recognize any of the people in them. Flipping through them she stopped at one which displayed an enlarged picture of the group's crest; Duo had scribbled across the bottom of the picture; under their motto, '_Fraternites, Fideleta, Veretas_' he had written '_**_fraternitas, fidelitas, veritas_**_'. Her curiosity was peaked, "Is something wrong with this?" _

_"Huh?" he answered thickly._

_Dorothy held up the picture of the crest impatiently. "This, you idiot, you wrote all over this."_

_Comprehension dawned on his face. "Oh yeah right, well umm, it's kinda silly but it's been bothering me."_

_"The motto?"_

_"The spelling of it." She quirked an eyebrow at him and he continued. "It's Latin right, 'Brotherhood, Loyalty, Truth'; pretty standard, but they misspelled it." _

_"How would you know that, no one speaks Latin anymore." she scoffed at him._

_"I do." He laughed at the expression on her face. "I swear, I do; I lived in a Catholic church for a while when I was younger. One of the nuns there taught it to us. Anyway, they just have their endings all messed up, and I know it's probably just because they don't actually speak the language, but still, I mean you'd think they'd have figured it out." _

_Dorothy nodded, somewhat surprised at this revelation about Duo but tried to keep her face passive as if everyone she knew understood an ancient, dead language. She couldn't give the man the satisfaction of knowing she was slightly impressed by him. Anthony's voice shook her from her thoughts. "These Leon's Army nuts are probably the remnants of the Knights Templar, they'd know Latin." _

_Duo smacked his hand against his forehead. "Man, I keep telling you, those guys haven't been around since the Middle Ages and the Crusades and all that stuff." _

_"Well not under that name of course." He turned to look back at Dorothy taking his eyes off the empty road in front of them, "See, the Catholic Church burned as many of them as they could find at the stake and the rest had to go into hiding. They took this huge treasure with them and changed their name to the Masons, still the same guys though. It would make sense that they'd use a language no one else did anymore to protect their communication . . . " _

_Duo was looking quite annoyed and Dorothy was torn between making Anthony to shut up and enjoying Duo getting a taste of his own medicine. She decided on the latter and pretended to look very interested in what Anthony was saying as Duo groaned beside her. A long and unpleasant night awaited her at their destination; she should enjoy the laughs she could get at present, especially if they were at the expense of the Deathscythe pilot beside her. _

- - - - -

Quatre was still not answering his phone; she was actually starting to get worried now. Dorothy looked down at the small piece of silicone and plastic in her hand; it was amazing what this seemingly small and unobtrusive looking object could do. In her case, right now it was beginning to make her panicked. For anyone else it could be conveying the death of a loved one in that explosion, or maybe the news that they were safe and sound.

Life was a complicated, intricate working of so many things. Yet one act could change all of that so quickly and more often than not the news of this occurrence, whatever it may be, was conveyed over the phone. It seemed trivial and pathetic that so much of their lives could be altered in an instant. You built relationships, friendships, partnerships, even governments and all of that could be taken away by something as inconsequential as a phone call.

- - - - -

_The shrill ringing of the phone perched next to her bed woke her; it was 2:30 in the morning, she spent all day with her committee. For almost two weeks not Representative Franklin had been running them ragged; he would probably still have all of them there if Dern had not fallen asleep in her own coffee._

_Dorothy felt around her nightstand, finally grasping the offending piece of technology she held it to her ear. "This had better be good."_

"_Miss Catalonia?"_

_The identity of the person on the other end jarred her out of her sleep induced stupor. "Commander Une?" The shock wore off a bit, "What can I do for you at this fine hour?"_

"_Dorothy are you alone? Quatre's not with you?"_

_Panic rose up in her throat, "No, he's not. Une, what happened?" she almost yelled._

"_Quatre's fine, and please keep your voice down. Now, are you alone?"_

_She mentally inventoried the staff of her lavish pent house apartment, "I believe the live in maid is the only one still here – " _

"_Are all of the lights out?"_

"_What? Yes, I suppose so, Commander I insist you tell me what is going on this instant."_

"_Dorothy, listen to me very carefully; stay in your room, keep all of the lights out, and do not answer your door."_

"_Une, I'm starting to get –"_

"_Representatives Dern and Woodrow were arrested tonight by the Assembly Guard. Josef is alleging that he had uncovered evidence that they are Leon's Army operatives and that they are bringing charges against him to try and destabilize the government."_

_She was shocked; never would she have anticipated that Josef would make such a bold move. Une continued, "We are trying to round up as many members of your committee as we can get in touch with, I'm sending Agent Chang over to get you."_

"_Commander, if they plan on arresting me, taking me into protective custody will not stop them."_

"_Dorothy, they may not be coming to arrest you." The older woman sighed into the phone, "When Agent Yuy went to go try and collect Representative Franklin, he found him dead in his bed. An apparent stroke, but obviously we don't believe that to be what happened."_

_Dorothy slid back onto her pillows, she felt lightheaded. "Franklin's dead?"_

"_Yes. Dorothy, Josef's Assembly Guards have quickly progressed to his own personal army, you're no longer safe. Agent Chang will be there any moment – " _

_Dorothy's head shot up, there was the distinct sound of footsteps in the hall. As quietly and calmly as she could she interrupted Une. "Commander, there's someone outside my bedroom door." She barely heard Une begin to give her instructions as she hung up the receiver and pulled the phone cord from the back of the phone._

_Slowly she stood from the bed and slipped the bottom draw of her nightstand open, removing a small dagger. Dorothy silently made her way toward the double doors on the other side of the room; the noise in the hall had stopped but she could feel someone's presence out there. She was perfectly calm, but her heart was hammering. The door was suddenly flung open, a figure pushed past her and then everything was a blur until Wufei burst into her room not five minutes later._

_She sat on her bed, her hands were covered with blood, the shining dagger was buried in the man's back and he was laying face down on the floor. Wufei came to a stop as he crossed the threshold, looking back and forth between her and the body on the ground. _

_To her surprise, her heart was still pounding; she had killed before, but never with her own hands. She was not sure whether or not the man was actually dead, honestly she didn't care that much. Wufei did not speak to her, he only nodded and took out his cell phone, presumably to dial Une and leaving Dorothy to her thoughts. At that particular moment however, all that she could think was that the rules had changed tonight. Yes, from here on out it was an entirely different game they were playing._


	6. Zeitgeist

And here we are at Chapter Six - the longest and last of the set-up chapters. Some, (not all, but some) of those burning questions, (like 'What the hell is going on here?) will be answered. My most sincere appreciation and gratitude goes out to those who have made it through this incredibly long and drawn out set-up, I hope it will meet your expectations. Thank you again for the reviews, enjoy!

Occam's Razor

Chapter Six - Zeitgeist

Tynan

Commander Une lifted her head at the sound of her name, well sort of her name.

"Mom, your cell phone is ringing again, should I answer it?" came a voice from the next room.

Mom. It had been six years and she was still not entirely accustomed to that title. Well, it hadn't really been six years; Marimaeha hadn't started using the term until just before she turned 10, before that she had been addressed as simply 'Une'. It was a late March night some four years ago she had retuned from work to find the child still awake and waiting for her in the kitchen. In a most business and adult-like manner Marimaeha explained that she now felt secure enough in her role as 'daughter' to begin calling Une 'mother' and not just for show as was the case when they were in public. She was 14 now, they had grown much more comfortable with each other; it had been a long road but they had finally reached the point where they were both ready to categorize their relationship as one of mother and daughter.

"Yes Mari, tell whoever it is I'll be right there." Une set her cup of tea aside and rose from the large squishy arm chair she had been seated in. She could hear her daughter's voice from the other room. Une would never pretend that she and Marimaeha had a typical mother-daughter relationship; the child was 14 going on 40, she was almost more of a friend than a little girl.

Marimaeha had all the elegance and refinement her father had possessed and an intellect to match. Also like him, she had an eye for politics and government; she devoured everything she could find on the subject, or any subject for that matter. It was clear that Marimaeha was brilliant young girl full of promise and potential; she was easily the top student of her class in her prestigious school, the Royal Academy of the Sanq Kingdom in New Port City.

The irony of the girl's place of residence was not lost on her. Soon after the May 3rd bombings and subsequent events two years ago it had become obvious to Une that Brussels was not safe for her daughter. Milliardo and Lucrezia had been kind enough to offer their help; Marimaeha, or simply 'Mari' as her name had been changed to, would be allowed to move to the Sanq Kingdom. She would be more than welcome to live with them in the capital at the palace and attend school at the institution Relena had founded and her brother had revived.

Une herself visited as often as she could, once or twice a month, but her position as Commander of the Preventers Bureau kept her in Brussels for extended periods of time. She missed her daughter during these long separations, but she knew that Mari understood her need to be away.

Une pushed the doors of the Peacecraft family library open, as she entered the hall, Marimaeha strode over to meet her, handing her the cell phone with a roll of her eyes and a small smile then went back into the room to delve back into her book.

She held the phone up to her ear. "This is Commander Une."

"Commander, umm, I'm very sorry to disrupt you ma'am th-there - " The voice belonged to Officer Doug Morgan, one of her direct subordinates and possibly one of the most highly strung people she had ever encountered.

"Spit it out Morgan." After three years of working together she could not understand why the young man was still so terrified of her.

"Y-yes Commander, my ap-apologies, I'm ver, very sorry to h-have -" the pace of his speech suddenly picked up thought it began slurring somewhat, "Ma'am th-there's been an, an incident, and weee've, um weee h-have been . . . yes, standard protocol and - ."

"Morgan, is there someone there who's had a little less caffeine?" There was a scuffle in the back and another voice demanding the phone from Doug.

"Commander Une, this is Officer Parsons." A sharp female voice rang out from the phone.

"Yes Tina," she made a sincere effort not to sound exasperated, "now what was Doug trying to say?"

"Ma'am there have been a series of explosions at the North Side Canal bridges. We have been following through with standard protocol, Agents Yuy and Gord and have taken point on issuing orders in your absence. Both of them are on the scene and are waiting for your call should you have any additional instructions for them."

Une slumped against the wall, "What sort of damage are we looking at Parsons?"

There was a pause from the other side, "Total, ma'am. Initial reports are indicating that all three of the bridges suffered a complete collapse."

"Is anyone putting their name on this one yet?"

"No, not yet ma'am."

Une thought for a minute; it was nearly impossible for her to give any orders from over a thousand miles away. "Alright, I'll get in touch with Yuy and Gord. In the meantime, find out everything you can; I want an update from you personally every half hour."

There was a quick, 'Yes, Commander.' and the line was terminated. Une rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingers; for a minute there she really thought that Europe might make it through August without a major incident.

This was how life had become now, very few places in the world could be considered 'safe'; even the Sanq Kingdom was beginning to have its own problems. Europe specifically had become a highly contested area. Bombings, kidnappings, arson, general terror were all fairly common occurrences across the continent. All of this stemmed from one man; one self-serving sorry excuse for a human being who had seen fit to throw the world into war and chaos solely to fulfill his own ambitions.

- - - - -

_Commander Une looked away from the document she was reading to the door of her office. There was a great deal of noise coming from the other side; someone fighting with her secretary Nicole._

_"Sir you know you can't just go in there – "_

_"I know, but whatever she's doing this is more important!"_

'Maxwell.'

_There was a moment of silence, no wait, maybe that was someone else speaking._

_Nicole's voice was heard again. "I -, uh . . . well just . . . "_

_Again there was silence. Une looked back down at the document below her; the noise had stopped which meant Maxwell was no longer in the area. No sooner had she finished the thought than Nicole's voice rang out over her intercom._

_"Commander Une, you're 8:08 appointment is here."_

_She seemed nervous but Une had no time for these games and was not in a sympathetic mood. "I don't have an 8:08 appointment, Nicole."_

_"I'm not going to tell him that Ma'am." came the now obviously frightened sounding reply._

'And Yuy's with him.'

_Now very annoyed she stood up and walked to the door prepared to tell off both the agents on the other side; Gundam pilots or not, this was unacceptable. Before she could reach the handle however, the door was flung open and she deftly stepped behind it in order to avoid being hit with the large, heavy piece of oak. Duo Maxwell strode past where she stood straight to where she should have been sitting and came to a dead stop. Heero Yuy calmly crossed the threshold behind him, arms crossed over his chest and a messenger bag hanging on his shoulder, brimming with large manila folders._

_"Where the hell is she?" Duo's braid whipped back and forth as he swung himself around to scan the room; knocking over a coffee cup on the desk and spilling it on to the floor in the process._

_For a moment she dared to hope that maybe they'd just give up and go away. The sentiment went by the wayside however, as Heero wordlessly reached behind him and pushed the door closed to reveal the Commander of the Preventers Bureau._

_"Commander Une!" Duo practically jumped at in her direction upon spotting her. "Commander, look I'm sorry I didn't make an appointment to see you – "_

_"Or bother to call for that matter." She spat at him as she smoothed out her shirt._

_"Okay! I said I'm sorry, but this is really, really important!" his voice was strained and frantic sounding. Stopping to look at him for the first time, Une saw his usually neat braid was frayed mess, he had dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, and was looking a little on the pale side. Glancing at Heero, he too looked somewhat disheveled._

_"Did you two sleep here last night?"_

_"We were here all night if that's what you mean." Heero answered in his usual deadpan voice from behind her._

_She had to admit that they had her curiosity peeked, however that didn't change her schedule from being booked solid for the morning. "Maxwell, Yuy, whatever this is it's going to have to wait. The Minister of Justice will be arriving in fifteen minutes, I can meet with you both this afternoon – "_

_"Commander, you need to hear this now." Heero's voice was no longer deadpan, but sounded serious, deadly, and possibly a little sleep deprived._

_Throwing her hands up in defeat she walked back to her desk where coffee was now steadily dripping down the side. "Fine, you have two minutes, go."_

_"How come when Heero says it's important you listen to him and not me?!"_

_"One minute, fifty seconds Maxwell."_

_He made a sort of sputtering noise before reaching into his pocket and extracting several folded pieced of paper. "Alright, well I was here last night and I was looking at the file's on Leon's Army and there was one of those pictures of their crest with they're little slogan or whatever under it and it's really been bothering me for a while – "_

_"The slogan has been bothering you?"_

_"I – no, not the slogan, the Latin in it, it's not right and it's been bothering me." He opened the folded pieces of paper, the one on top was a picture of the crest of Leon's Army; their Latin phrase,_ **'Fraternites, Fideleta, Veretas'** _had been crossed out and **'fraternitas, fidelitas, veritas'** was written in Duo's hand writing under it._

_Une paused to consider this for a moment; yes, it was odd that an organization such as this would misspell their own credo, but on the other hand, it was somewhat understandable. Latin had become a completely dead language, nobody spoke or studied it anymore in this day and age. To her knowledge it had not been taught anywhere outside a Catholic seminary in over 300 years- suddenly it clicked._

_"Duo, you speak Latin?" He nodded. "Really?"_

_The tone in his voice was one of obvious exasperation. "Why is everyone so surprised when I tell them I'm fluent in Latin?!"_

_"Because you're barely fluent in English."_

_Une could not suppress the smirk on her face while Duo whipped his head around to yell at Heero directly for the comment. Turning back to Une he took a pen from her desk and leaned over the papers that had been placed between them. "As I was saying, their spelling errors mostly seemed to be that they have all their ending messed up, so I was just jotting down what it should be, I don't know just because, and I realized maybe they weren't misspelled, well not by accident anyway._

_So I started playing around with the letters, and well after a really, really, long time I figured out that if you rearrange them . . ." He flipped through the sheets of paper, all of which were covered in his hand writing, until he found he one he was looking for and pulling it from the small pile set it in front of Une. "You get this."_

_The entire page was covered in letters, words and partial phrases, all in various languages. Flipping it over her she was met with the same; just as she was about to hand the crumpled, coffee stained mess back to Duo two lines of writing encased in a red circle caught her eye. Une took the paper from where it lay, needing to hold it closer to her face in order to confirm what she was seeing was correct. Carefully laid out in the finest print Duo could muster was one of the most disturbing things she had ever laid eyes on:_

The Army of _**Leon Cherheudohn – Fraternites, Fideleta, Veretas**_

The Army of **_the Nev Order of the United Earth's Sfere Alliance_**

_"It was misspelled on purpose in order to accommodate their anagram." Duo concluded._

_She felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her. Her head was swimming, what could this mean? Heero, of course, was ready with an answer._

_"That's not the worst of it." She looked in his direction to find him standing in front of her desk beside Duo. "When Duo showed me this, we started to do some digging on the namesake of this group and which, if any, relatives of his might still be alive. As we kept looking we discovered that Leon Cherheudohn had had two sons, Alexander and Nicholas. Alexander was killed in battle at a young age and never married or had children. Nicholas had one daughter, Katerina Cherheudohn, who had died at thirty-two years old, having never married._

_This should have effectively ended the main line of the Cherheudohn's meaning that their estate should have gone to a Maria Dagmar, Katerina's second cousin. However, when we looked into the records, we found that it never passed to her; someone else is legally still in possession of the Cherheudohn estate."_

_Heero took out one of the thicker folder from his bag and was holding it in out to her. Hands shaking slightly she took it from him and opened it. Staring back at her was a picture of Prime Minister Josef, under it was another, much younger picture of him, standing with an older man to whom he bore a striking resemblance._

_"Prime Minister Josef is Leon Cherheudohn's great-grandson; he was born to Katerina Cherheudohn and a man named Vissari Josef. Vissari was a low-ranking soldier in the Alliance; he and Katerina were never married so when she gave birth to their son, Nicholas II in 147AC, Katerina's father, Nicholas I, feared a scandal and took him from Katerina and raised him, in secret, as a member of the Cherheudohn family with their last name."_

_Heero extracted another folder from the bag he was carrying and held it out to Une. Upon opening it she discovered a detailed family tree written out in Heero's neat script; off on the left hand side was the circled name of Nicholas Cherheudohn-Josef._

_Heero continued, "Nicholas Josef's father died in battle in 149AC, two years after he was born. Apparently Katerina became very ill after his death and never recovered, she died in 151AC. With both of his parents dead, Nicholas Cherheudohn was left with complete control over his grandson. From what we know of him, Nicholas I instilled the same ideas and values in his grandson as, Leon Cherheudohn had in him. Nicholas Josef grew up a servant to the United Earth Sphere Alliance, it was his family's legacy."_

_"But he changed his name?" Une finally spoke._

_"Yeah, when he started at the military academy, he took his dad's name." Duo yawned and answered at the same time. "Not really sure why, the Alliance was the reigning power, no reason he should have been worried about having that last name. Best we can figure was that he just wanted to make his own way, maybe honor his father or something like that."_

_"Regardless," Heero cut in, "Josef lost everything when OZ overthrew the Alliance. He somehow managed to quietly distance himself from his family ties and work his way into the new government." He paused for a second before continuing, "However, he didn't want to just sit back and let ESUN carry on. His great-grandfather laid the foundation for the first global government Earth had, and his grandfather was one of its founding members; Josef sees the leadership of the planet as his birthright and he's been slowly setting up his plan to take it back for years now."_

_Realization dawned on Une, "The Echidna Virus . . ." Heero simply nodded._

_Une was left speechless, her mind was overwhelmed and racing, the entire state of the world as she had known it had just come crashing down around her. She could hardly formulate words, but after a moment or so recovered enough to speak. "So what you are telling me is that Prime Minister Josef, the leader of ESUN, is also the leader of the terrorist organization that exterminated nearly the entire government so that he would be put in a position of power and be able to rebuild ESUN in his own image."_

_"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." Duo, plopped down in one of the chairs in front of her desk._

_"B-but, how? He's . . . Leon's Army, they've –, Josef has been – "_

_"Using them to distract everyone on the planet from what he was doing." Heero sounded bitter. "The Echidna Epidemic served two purposes: to wipe out the entire sitting government in one blow, and to cause enough panic among the population that they would desperately seek a leader that could see them through the crisis. All Josef had to do was make sure he survived the Epidemic, and considering he knew that it was coming he easily would have been able to. In the meantime, he won the hearts and minds of everyone on Earth."_

_"And when the vaccine was developed and the situation was finally under control . . ." she trailed off._

_"Josef believed that the people of Earth would beg him to retain the position of Prime Minister; he had easily filled the ranks of his cabinet and Parliament with his cohorts so he thought that he would be able to begin his plans to reshape ESUN without any trouble. However, Representatives Woodrow and Franklin began pushing for elections . . ."_

_"So he called on Leon 's Army again." Une finished for him, "He had them carry out the May 3rd bombings, then continue with smaller scale attacks so that he could create a situation of chaos and pandemonium."_

_"Yup, and everyone would be all afraid again and go running back to their fearless leader, and Josef would, very humbly of course, be there to lead them out of yet another global calamity." Duo kicked his feet up onto Une's desk as he spoke._

_She was too stunned to even yell at him. "How did we not know about Josef? He would have had to go through all sorts of background checks before joining Parliament – "_

_"He did." Heero interrupted her, "The Prime Minister entered the Alliance Military Academy when he was 16, and did so under 'Nicholas Josef'. His entire adult life he has gone by that name. He listed his parents as Vissari and Katerina Josef, and with both of them confirmed dead there was no way to check otherwise. Even if they had both still been alive an investigation wouldn't have found anything unusual about a boy having the same last name as his father. It appears to have been inadvertent, but there is no official record of Josef ever having any ties to the Cherheudohn Family."_

_Une could do nothing but gape at the men before her. Five days ago Josef had arrested half of Dorothy's committee and refused to divulge their locations. In that same night he had murdered Representative Franklin and tried to have Dorothy killed. They had managed to hide the five surviving members of the committee, but Josef was breathing down her neck demanding that she turn them over and she was running out of excuses. In the back of her mind she had wondered why he was so desperate for them; they were unable to continue their work from where they were and so they no longer posed a threat to him. Now it had all become clear, he feared that their investigation would somehow discover his true identity and motives._

_On some level she should not have been so surprised having once taken part in a coup d'état herself, but they had at least had the decency to do it in plain sight of the public and they certainly did not kill millions of civilians in the process. She was slowly beginning to wrap her head around the intricacy and forethought which had clearly been put into this plot. This plot, Josef had been plotting against ESUN for God knows how long now. Unconsciously she reached for the intercom on her desk, "Nicole, please call Minister Trotsky and reschedule our meeting."_

_She did not wait for the young woman to answer before turning to the two agents seated in front of her. "Gather Yalta, even Quebec. We'll meet in my private conference room; we have four days to get a plan together."_

_Duo sat up and looked at her curiously, "Four days to plan for what?"_

_"June 6th, we are going to arrest Josef and his cabinet for deceiving and manipulating the ESUN government and crimes against humanity."_

- - - - -

Une shut the library door behind her as quietly as possible so as not to startle her daughter. The girl in question, however, was already looking in her direction with a uncertain expression on her face. "Did something happen?"

Une sighed, Mari was always too perceptive for her own good. "There were a series of bombings in Brussels. Three bridges were completely destroyed."

Marimaeha nodded. "You need to go back then?"

"Yes," she answered quietly, "I'm sorry – "

"Mom, it's okay." She set her book aside and shifted to face her better. "When are you going to let me start working with the ESUN members?" Her tone betrayed that she already knew the answer.

They had had this conversation many times before. Marimaeha wanted to begin the process of entering herself into the world of government; however she was still underage and had a living guardian and Une refused to allow her to put herself in even more danger. Had the world not been such an uncertain and hazardous place for politicians, perhaps things would be different, but as they stood now, publicly allying herself with ESUN was no way for a fourteen year old to make it to her fifteenth birthday.

"Mari – "

"Relena Peacecraft was only a year older than me when she became Queen of the World. So were Agent Yuy, and Agent Chang, and Mr. Winner when they were Gun – "

"Mari, if I recall correctly, you were only eight when you managed to take over the world."

She made a child-like face at her guardian. "You know that doesn't count."

Une couldn't help but smile, the girl had so much of her father in her. She knew that at least part of her desire to take part in ESUN was out of a need to prove herself, not to the world, but to her own heart and mind. "Mari, you know I'm not going to allow you to enter ESUN while we're at war."

Mari rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded like 'fine'. Her attitude was to be expected; Une could not imagine being forced to sit on the sidelines, well protected from everything, and watching events such as these unfolding. Sometimes she had to remind herself that Marimaeha was still only a child and the current state of the world was no place for a child.

- - - - -

_Commander Une shut the door behind her and looked to the table in the middle of the room where Barton, Wufei, and Yuy were sitting. "Maxwell's still not here?"_

_All three nodded wordlessly. She sighed and went to sit down, trying to come up with the best way to repremand him when he showed his face. Operation: Overlord was in less than 72 hours; they were arresting the Prime Minister in less than three days and he couldn't even be on time to go over the plans. As she sat down the intercom on the large conference table buzzed and Nicole's voice rang out, "Commander, someone is here – "_

_"Show him in." She cut off her secretary, finding herself slightly surprised that Duo was only two minutes late._

_There was a short knock at the door and it was opened by Nicole, who was followed in by older man. He was lean, with a full head of graying hair, average height, and a full goatee; Une immediately recognized him as David Trotsky, the Minister of Justice, hand selected by Prime Minister Josef. Somewhat startled, her heart began to speed up but her voice and face remained calm, "Minister Trotsky, this is unexpected, is there something that I can do for you sir?"_

_He waited until Nicole closed the door behind her before taking a step towards them and Une noticed for the first time how anxious he looked; his forehead was glistening with sweat and he was wringing his hands nervously. Une caught Wufei exchange glances with Heero out of the corner of her eye; Trowa only continued to stare at the man. She waited for him to speak but he said nothing; wanting to break the tense silence, Une asked again, "Minister, are you feeling alright sir? Did you need to speak with me about something?"_

_He seemed to snap back to reality at the sound of her voice and finally turned to look in her direction. "M-my apologies Commander for not calling ahead to alert you of my coming here. I, um well, I felt it would be best if . . ." His voice trailed off and he looked back to the three men seated around the table behind her._

_Despite the fact that she planned to arrest this man in 72 hours, Une was becoming legitimately worried now. She had never actually seen someone have a nervous breakdown before and could not guarantee she would know what to do; judging by the expression on Wufei's face he was thinking the same thing. Une was about to reach into her pocket for her cell phone when the older man spoke again, this time to the pilots present, as though just noticing them. "Oh, yes, please forgive my rudeness; I don't believe that we have met before."_

_Perplexed but not wanting to further distress the clearly upset man, Trowa took it upon himself to stand and shake Trotsky's hand. "Minister, I'm Agent Barton, I serve with Covert Operations. This is Agent Yuy with Security and Intelligence and Agent Chang with Special Operations." He indicated both men respectively who nodded in turn._

_To the surprise of all present Trotsky's face suddenly broke into a smile. "Oh, oh! How, well - This is . . . yes, yes of course!" He pulled back one of the chairs next to him and collapsed into it, for a moment he looked as though he might start crying before he blurted out, "You're all with the Yalta Task Force then?"_

_Une felt the bottom drop out of her stomach and saw both Trowa and Heero's hand jerk instinctively towards the guns concealed under their jackets. Une quickly closed the distance between them, and spun his chair around to face her. The Minister looked terrified to say the least, his mouth was open and he was making noises as if he were trying to speak. Behind them Wufei and Heero had stood from their chairs as well, she glanced in their direction motioning with her head to stay where they were._

_"I-I've come to help you!"_

_Une's eyes immediately returned to the man seated below her. "Commander p-please, I've come to help you."_

_She stepped back from the now shaking man, a thousand thoughts were playing across her mind, but the first and foremost was what exactly this man knew. "Explain yourself, Minister."_

_Trotsky nodded dumbly, before gesturing to Une that she should take a seat. She did so, as did the three agents in the room. Trotsky was silent for a minute as though he were composing himself. When he finally spoke his voice was even and calm, "Commander, I know about the Yalta Task Force and of the Preventer's plans to arrest the Prime Minister and his cabinet in three days."_

_"You know why we're doing this then, you know who Josef is?" Her voice was sharp and cold._

_"Yes, he is the great-grandson of Leon Cherheudohn and the leader of the military organization named after him."_

_"And you've known this of him from the start?" It was Wufei that spoke this time._

_"I-I, yes. Yes, I did, well, his identity only. I didn't know . . ." He hung his head, Une could only assume it was to avoid meeting their eyes. "But, I never thought - I d-didn't . . ."_

_"Didn't think he would murder millions of innocent people just so he could play king of the world?"_

_"Agent Chang, please, I know w-what" he sighed "Please, let me start from the beginning."_

_Une reclined in her seat, "Fine, go ahead."_

_Trotsky nodded and took a deep breath, "Four years ago when the ESUN government was formed there were a group of former politicians who had served under the Alliance that wished to continue with their political careers. The new government, of course, wanted nothing to do with any of them and so they slowly came to accept our forced retirement, I was among them."_

_He paused as though needing a moment to prepare himself. "Then in January of 198AC I was approached by Josef, after a series of meetings he revealed to me his identity as that of Nicholas Cherheudohn II and his plan to reclaim control of the ESUN government in the name of the defeated United Earth Sphere Alliance. He planned to overthrow them from the inside out by slowly incorporating newer, younger members of his cause into the government. You see, the younger members would have no written history with the Alliance and therefore would not be regarded as suspicious. As more and more of them gained power they would, in turn begin to bring in the older members, either by endorsing us in elections or seeing to it that we were appointed to positions."_

_"But Josef got impatient." Heero interrupted._

_"Yes," Trotsky responded forlornly, "it was proving more difficult than he had imagined; he came up with another plan. Quite frankly I never knew what it was because after Relena Peacecraft went missing he began formulating a yet another strategy."_

_Une's eyes jumped to Heero who quickly stood from his seat and menacingly leaned across the table towards Trotsky; instinctively Trowa reached for his arm. "Josef had something to do with the Foreign Minister's disappearance?!"_

_Trotsky was sitting as far back as his seat would allow him, "I-I I d-don't know!"_

_"You seem to be saying that an awful lot Minister. Why don't you tell us what you do know?" Une cut in, mostly to prevent Heero from throttling the man seated across from him._

_Trotsky waited for Heero to settle back in his seat before he continued, "Josef said he had something planned that his followers would carry out in the beginning of September. I was never formally told what it was and I never knew that by these followers he meant this Leon's Army group." He paused for a moment, "Whatever the plan was, it must have somehow involved Minister Peacecraft, because after her kidnapping, Josef pushed the operation back to January. But as I said, I was never actually told what the original plan consisted of."_

_Une studied the man in front of her, he was holding something back. "But you have an idea." It was a statement, not a question._

_Trotsky turned to her as though startled. "I, well now I do. L-looking back on it, I believe that Josef intending for Leon's Army to carryout the May 3rd bombings back in September of last year." Une watched his eyes flash towards Heero, who looked as though he were about to speak again. "But I swear I have no idea what, if any, role Relena Peacecraft was to play in this. I don't even know for sure that her disappearance was the reason for the change in plans, but it, well it seemed like too great a coincidence, that's all."_

_"We understand Minister, now please continue." she asked the slightly shaking older man._

_"Yes, well the beginning of January came; now please, you have to understand that I had no idea, nor reason to suspect that whatever Josef was planning would involve any sort of violence or loss of life."_

_"What the hell did you think he was going to do?" It was Wufei's turn for an outburst now. "He's got thousands of soldiers running around calling themselves 'The Army of Leon Cherheudohn', what did you think was going to happen?!"_

_"I told you, I did not even know that this group existed!" Trotsky was suddenly stood and began yelling, "I am not a close member of Nicholas Josef's circle, I simply fit into the category of people he was looking for! I was a member of the Alliance, and I still believe that it should be the ruling government of Earth. I do not agree with everything that it did and the oppression it inflicted upon the colonies, but I had hoped to change that from the inside. I was never a soldier, I did not support Treize Khushrenada in his coup against the Alliance government; we were well on our way to solving the problems we faced on our own. OZ and Romefeller, however, saw fit to create more chaos and bloodshed by up heaving the established government!"_

_Trotsky suddenly broke down, his head flopped into his hands and he sounded as though he were crying. "I am not a violent man," he continued, through the occasional sob, "When I joined the government under the Alliance I had hoped that I could begin to change things. When Josef approached me two years ago, it reminded me of what I was missing, how I wanted to resume my position of trying to better the world. I had no idea what Josef was planning or what he was capable of. I agreed to help him because I was blinded by ambition and my own selfish need to prove to everyone in the world the not all of us who served in the Alliance wanted war and suffering, that not all of us were monsters."_

_Trotsky stopped talking, but no one else spoke. Une glanced in the direction of her three agents, all looked quite taken back. She turned back to Trotsky, who seemed to have calmed down and was wiping his eyes with a handkerchief. Their eyes met and she nodded for him to continue._

_Again, he composed himself. "I did not hear from Josef for several months; the beginning of January came and went and nothing happened. I assumed that he had either gone back to his original plan of slow infiltration or given up." He shuddered a little as he spoke, "When the Echidna epidemic began in the end of January, I, well I had my suspicions, I should have said something as soon as soon as I learned Josef was one of the survivors, but again I never imagined . . . Then when that Leon's Army group claimed responsibility I pushed it out of my mind. I should have known that with them boasting the name of Josef's great-grandfather they had some tie to him, but I looked into them and discovered that they had been around for nearly eight years, even back to when the Alliance was still in place. Besides all this - "_

_"You had no proof." Une interjected._

_Trotsky nodded sadly, "Yes, again I pushed all of this out of my head. I just could not fathom a single man would or could do something like this . . . " He trailed off._

_"What finally made you make the connection to Josef?" Wufei's voice was surprisingly even._

_"He told me."_

_There was obvious confusion on the other four faces in the room. "He told you?" Une spoke._

_"Well, more or less. Right after Representative Catalonia's motion to investigate Josef, we left the Parliament building and he called all of his cabinet members to his office. When I arrived, most were already there and he and Minister of the Interior Kamenev were yelling. Josef was furious with Kamenev for not keeping a better eye on Catalonia, he said that Kamenev had taken too long discovering her true loyalties and that now she was going to have the Preventers Bureau investigating him and God only knows what other information she had passed to Une's Yalta team._

_Kamenev kept trying to assure him that everything would be taken care of but Josef was enraged, he was ranting like a mad man. He started screaming that he hadn't risked bringing Leon's Army out into the open for a second time to have everything he'd worked for taken away by that Romefeller brat . . . his words, not mine." he quickly added._

_"It's fine Minster, please continue." Une waved her hand dismissively._

_"Yes, well Kamenev was clearly worried as well. He just kept telling Josef that he and the Assembly Guard would see to it that the problem was taken care of. Josef said that he didn't care how he did it, but to get Catalonia, Franklin and their friends out of the way before Preventers got involved and they managed to set up elections." Trotsky's voice suddenly became very quiet. "Then he told Kamenev that if he didn't fix this, they would be using him as the nexus when he had to have Leon's Army launch a second round of the Echidna Virus."_

_Une was stunned to say the least, "You mean . . ."_

_"It would seem that the Cabinet Aide, John Caincross, was one of Josef's younger allies and deliberately infected himself so that he might spread the disease most effectively."_

_Wufei leaned forward in his seat. "That's why he never went to the hospital and was found dead in his apartment. He knew how the disease would run its course and that he'd be dead before any one else began showing symptoms. He didn't seek medical attention because they might have begun to quarantine the ESUN members earlier and not as many would have been infected and died."_

_"Yes, that is what I assumed as well." Trotsky wiped his brow with his handkerchief, "I-I am, I'm ashamed of myself for refusing to see what was right in front of me for so long. If, if I had only spoken to you earlier, maybe . . ."_

_"You'd be dead, Minister. And we would have no idea that Josef knew of this task force and it's plans to arr- ." Une stopped mid-sentence, something had just occurred to her. "Minister, how did Josef discover that we plan to arrest him? Representative Catalonia has not been recording information for us for over three weeks now and this raid was planned only a day and a half ago."_

_Trotsky turned to face Une, looking her directly in the eye. His suddenly serious demeanor almost sent a chill down her spine. "That's what I came here to tell you about Commander. You have a mole in your Yalta Task Force."_

_She felt her eyes grow wide, how could that even be possible? She did not have much time to consider this as Trotsky continued. "I have trying to meet with you for over a week now, unfortunately it has been hard for me to do so without drawing attention to myself, but it seems fortunate that I waited. Yesterday, Kamenev called me to his office and informed me of Preventer's plans. He also reassured me that there was nothing to worry about, that he had been given a detailed summary of the Yalta Task Force's strategy. When you came to arrest us that night, you would not find us in our homes and offices, rather several well-trained, heavily armed members of the Assembly Guard. Once I realized the massacre they were planning I knew that I had to come and see you as soon as I could, regardless of whether or not I was discovered."_

_A heavy silence hung in the room. Une's mind was beginning to cloud with questions, she looked to the three young men seated around her knowing they were all thinking the same as her._

_"But you don't know who the mole is?" Heero's voice jarred her from her thoughts._

_"No, no I am sorry, I do not." Trotsky pushed back his chair and stood, "I am very sorry, but if you will excuse me, I have a meeting with the Prime Minister in less than half an hour and given everything that has happened it would look very suspicious if – "_

_"Minister, you can't go anywhere. Josef probably already knows that you've been here, he'll have you killed. You'll need to be taken under the protection of Preventers." Une tried to keep her voice calm so as not to panic the man, but to her surprise he only smiled sadly._

_"I am touched by your concern Commander, however, it would seem to me that returning to devil I traded my soul to and allowing my fate to be decided from there is the only means by which to atone for my sins." With this he turned to walk to the door, but paused before turning the handle. "Agent Yuy, if it is of any consolation to you, I do not believe that Josef and Leon's Army actually kidnapped Foreign Minister Peacecraft. It seems to me that she was somehow a vital part to their plot and they are only claiming to be responsible for her death after the fact."_

_The door shut behind him and once again the room was filled with quiet. Une could hear the blood pounding in her head; someone had betrayed them, no someone had been planted in order to betray them. They had slipped in right under her nose. She began mentally inventorying the members of Yalta. To even suggest that one of the six pilots could be the mole was absurd; the same could be said of Sally, Dorothy, and Lucrezia. She knew who they would all suspect, but it just couldn't be . . ._

_"Commander - " her head shot up at the sound of Heero's voice._

_"I know what you're going to say Yuy and – "_

_"Commander Une, it has to be him – "_

_"Agent Chang, I have known – "_

_"For God's sake Commander, he's ex-Alliance!"_

_They all stopped at the sound of Trowa raising his voice, even he looked somewhat startled. "Commander," he continued "Cordell is the only one who is completely a civilian, everyone else has had to go through Preventer's background checks at some point or another – "_

_"Don't you think, Agent Barton, that I put Cordell through the same screenings as everyone else who is given Agent status?!" She was getting angry and her voice began to rise. She never let herself lose control but to suggest that one of her oldest friends had agreed to help them with the sole purpose of betraying them . . ._

_Heero's calm voice cut in again. "He's exactly what Josef would have been looking for; ex-Alliance who were unable to continue to work in government after ESUN took over."_

_"Cordell is an academic now." Her voice was cold and sharp, she was tired of defending herself to her subordinates. She stood from her seat and braced both of her hands on the table about to give all of them a piece of her mind when the door behind them was flung open and Duo Maxwell stumbled in._

_"Commander, I am so sorry! I got, stuck with – " he stopped mid-sentence, apparently having just taken in the tense situation in the room. "Whoa, what'd I miss?"_

_Une snatched up the folder sitting in front of her and walked towards the door. "We'll catch you up once we get to my office, it's not safe to discuss this here."_

_"Umm, well okay." Duo stepped aside, scratching the back of his head in a confused manner. "Hey, umm real quick, and again I'm sorry I was late but – "_

_"You can explain later Maxwell." She said in a deadly tone as she brushed by him._

_"Yeah, right well I just wanted to ask if there was a Yalta mission or something going on that I didn't know about."_

_Une stopped and turned back to face him, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. "Why do you ask?"_

_Duo gave a little shrug, "Well that's why I was late, I was checking this out. See I couldn't figure out if there was a reason that I saw Theodore Hall talking to that creepy Minister Kamenev guy at a cafe."_

_- - - - -_

_Une followed closely behind Wufei as he led her and Heero through the labyrinth of doors and halls that was the Preventers Bureau Medical and Laboratory Facilities. They had parted ways with Duo and Trowa outside the conference room only ten minutes ago. The two other men were to go and gather Yalta and bring them to Une's private office. She, Wufei, and Heero, in the mean time, had driven to the other side of the Preventers Compound, blazed through the security check points, and were making their way to Sally's office._

_"Commander, what are we going to do if he's not there?" Wufei sounded uncharacteristically apprehensive._

_"Duo, said that he came back here. That was less than half an hour ago, he couldn't have gotten far. Sally will know where he is."_

_They continued down the halls until Wufei stopped them in front of one of the larger doors, neatly written across the middle was 'Agent Sally Po – Head Medical and Research Facilities'. Une went to reach for the door but Wufei blocked her. He tapped his ear and she listed as carefully as she could. Finally she heard it; their intended target was on the other side of that door._

_Heero had already removed his gun from its holster, she and Wufei did the same. She stepped aside for Heero to stand directly in front of the door, her to his left, Wufei to his right. Une nodded to him, he took the cue and kicked the door in. She let the two other men step through before crossing the threshold herself._

_Behind her desk stood a very surprised Sally Po; the traitor in question stood by the windows behind her and turned to them with a panicked look on his face. "Commander, what – "_

_Sally never finished her sentence, a gun shot rang out and she staggered into her desk. Une heart stopped beating for a moment, it all happened so fast. Before any of them could react Hall was behind Sally, gun to her head, and his arm around her neck holding her against him as blood trickled down her leg. His usually calm expression was suddenly that of a crazed mad man, his glasses were lopsided, and sweat glistened his face._

_"Get the hell back! I'll kill her – "_

_"Drop the gun, Hall. We all know you're not getting out of here in one piece." Une heard herself bark out of reflex. The words barely registered with her; this man was clearly out of his mind, there was no telling what he could do._

_"Not likely, Commander." He slurred her title in a degrading manner and laughed a little. "I was wondering how long it was going to take you idiots to figure it out."_

_"We're not in the mood for a monologue, Hall." Wufei yelled back. He and Heero stood on either side of her; all three of them had their guns drawn at arms length and aimed at Hall's head._

_"Why not!?" his voice was becoming high and strained; something had definitely snapped, Une could see his hands shaking and in her head was going through every possible way to get him away from Sally. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard him continue._

_"Don't you want to know why I did it?! There's no way you could have figured all of it out yet. Don't you want to hear about my father?! How he was one of the men assassinated at the New Edwards Base all those years ago?! Don't you want to know that ESUN took away everything my family devoted themselves to building?!"_

_Out of the corner of her eye Une could see Heero slowly take a step to Hall's right; fortunately the lunatic appeared too busy ranting to notice. "I had given up all hope until Nicholas Josef found me. He knew who my father was, he knew what we had worked for, what we had lost. He had lost it all too! I was happy to do it for him!"_

_"Do what for him?" Une's eyes snapped back to Sally as she spoke. "What the hell did you do Hall?"_

_He seemed startled by Sally's voice but still did not give them an opening. "The virus, dear Sally the virus! Who do you think developed it for Josef, who gave it to Caincross?" He smiled in a demented sort of way. "And who developed the vaccine just in time?"_

_She'd lost track of how many times in the last 48 hours her eyes had grown wide and her heart beat faster._

_"You son of bitch." Sally growled at him, "You sick bastard, this whole time? This whole time we trusted you and you've been coming up with ways to kill as many people as possible you sick – "_

_"Shut up! Shut up you bitch!" He was screaming now and shaking Sally against him, she grimaced and tried to reach for her bleeding leg, but he held her in place and continued to yell becoming more and more incoherent. "I wanted to wait longer with it you know, but Josef is a more forgiving man than I, he said that enough had died, that I could tell all of you that I had developed a vaccine. I begged him, I told him that the people of this planet had not paid dearly enough for betraying their government, their leaders, those who had sacrificed so much to bring them security and peace. We had already vaccinated ourselves long before this, we had nothing to fear! All we had to do was wait, the pathetic masses would come running to Josef, praising him for his leadership and throwing themselves at his feet for the cure! Desperate people are so – "_

_There was a quick popping sound and without warning the left side of Hall's head burst open. He sputtered for a moment and fell against Sally. Une looked in the direction of the shot; Wufei was still holding his Glock23 at arms length, a wisp of smoke and gunpowder protruding from the tip. He dropped his arms and closed the short distance between him and Sally who had collapsed against the desk in front of her. To her right Heero was on his radio, requesting a medical team._

_Une shuddered internally as she slid her gun back into its holster. Wufei was helping Sally into the chair behind her desk; the whole of her leg was soaked with a deep crimson color. The last hour of her life was a blur, she could barely comprehend all that had happened. However, regardless of her own state of mind, she was still the Commander of the Preventers Bureau, and it fell to her to see to it that all this wrong was righted. The sound of footsteps were quickly approaching their door, she had to be quick and smart. " Casablanca."_

_Heero straightened and turned to face her. "Get back to Building A, find Cherchell and Bretton, then meet up with Cairo and Arcadia . The five of you have one hour to finalize the plans for Operation: Overlord; we will be executing it out tonight at 23:00. You can assign a team for Crimea as well, we'll need her. Tehran will join you once we've cleaned up this mess." She gestured to the body on the floor behind the desk._

_Heero nodded to her, "Understood." And with that was out the door._

_Une stepped aside as several officers pushed their way into the room and went towards Sally and Hall. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and leaned against the wall behind her. For the second time in her life she was about to topple a government._

_- - - - -_

_"Somebody get a light up there!" Off to her right, Une heard one of the officers dash towards the retrofitted truck behind them. She could hear the helicopter blades begin to beat faster and faster and knew that if they were going to prevent Josef from getting off the ground it would have to be now._

_Behind her a massive spotlight flashed on, illuminating the grounds of the Prime Minister's Mansion. From her preach on top of a hill, several hundred feet away she could see men in blue uniforms struggling to cover the escape of their leader as his helicopter began to hover off the ground. Wufei's team was pinned down in various places on the lawn; one of the groups readied a grenade launcher, but Une knew that even with such extreme measures it was too late._

_Gunfire continued all around her but her eyes were focused on the black aircraft which floated higher and higher into the air before pitching to the left and taking off towards the heart of Brussels. Her radio buzzed in her hand, "Commander, we've lost him."_

_"I can see that Officer Morgan!" she barked back at him. "Get Agent Chang on the radio, tell him I'm sending Agent Gord's team in to deal with the rest of the Assembly Guard. He's to regroup and get ready to go after Josef, he can't have gotten very far." She didn't wait for his reply as she turned back to where Officer Parsons was waiting for her. "Well?"_

_"Ma'am," came her sharp reply, "Agents Barton, Maxwell, Noin, and Yuy and Bentley have all reported in ma'am. Barton, Maxwell, and Noin's targets all escaped Commander. Yuy and Bentley were able to capture the Minister of Council, the Chancellor of Exchequer, and the Deputy Prime Minister at the Capital Building ."_

_"That's all?" Heero and Elizabeth had been given the task of raiding the Capital Building. Beside the three men they did capture, the Ministers of Communication, Transportation, Trade and Industry, and Health were all supposed to be working late tonight. Trowa, Duo, and Lucrezia were to take smaller teams to the residences of the Ministers of Treasury, Education, and Environment respectively and execute the warrants for their arrest. She, Wufei, and Anthony had led the assault on the Prime Minister's Manor, where they found, but were unable to capture Josef and his Foreign Minister, Minister of the Interior, Domestic Minister, and Minister of Defense._

_"I'm afraid so ma'am, apparently they encountered heavy resistance from the Assembly Guard stationed there. Three of their men were killed, they don't have a count on the wounded yet. A squad of the Assembly Guards booby trapped two of the offices; Agent Bentley was wounded trying to get into one of them, Agent Yuy said that it looks like she'll live though."_

_Une closed her eyes; the mission had been next to a complete failure. Given the circumstances she supposed that she should be grateful that they had managed to capture the three men that they did. She wished that they could have taken longer to plan the assault, but they simply did not have the time. The only comforting thought to her was that Josef had no where to go; she could see the media vans and equipment lined up on the front lawn, by tomorrow morning the entire world would know of what he had done, there would be no where for him to hide. They would find him eventually._

- - - - -

Une finished her conversation with Heero Yuy and flipped her phone shut as she jogged down one of the many long hallways in the Peacecraft Palace. Josef had gotten away that night, with many of his most trusted advisors; over two years later he had still evaded their capture. What made the situation all the more frustrating was that as little as one month after his disappearance he had announced his presence to the world once again, and Preventers couldn't do a damn thing to get within a hundred miles of the man. They were at war now and Josef had to be the most carefully protected individual on the planet.

At the end of the hall she found the door she was looking for. It was early still, but after today it was possible Zechs had wanted to go to bed early. As she approached she could see light coming from underneath the door; at least one of them was still awake.

Bringing her hand to the wood she knocked gently and was directed to enter.

- - - - -

Milliardo Peacecraft was woken from his state of being half asleep by a knock on the door. Before he could do anything his wife called for the person seeking entry to come in from her chair by the window. As the door swung aside a disheveled looking Lady Une entered; immediately he knew something was wrong.

Trying to suppress a groan and failing miserably he sat up and shifted to face her, "What happened?"

She made no indication that she was surprised by his question, "A series of explosions in Brussels, apparently they took out all three of the bridges over the North Side Canal."

There was a noise that sounded something like a gasp and a grunt from Lucrezia. Zechs, however did not react. "You'll be leaving then?"

"Yes, immediately. My driver is waiting out front, I just wanted to apprise you of the situation and ask –"

"Une, don't worry, Mari's in good hands here." Lucrezia's voice was calm and Une seemed to relax a bit.

The brown haired woman gave them both a small smile. "I know she is. I apologize, but I can't help but worry . . ."

"We understand, Une." Noin wore a soft smile. Zechs knew that she had become quite fond of the former dictator turned little girl over the past two years.

"My apologies but I must be leaving immediately." Une stopped at the door, "Thank you, both of you again."

Zechs did his best to look reassuring, "I'm sure you'll be back very shortly Une. Have a safe trip back, and please be careful."

With a nod she pulled the door shut behind her and the room fell quiet. He did not look in Lucrezia's direction, he knew what she would say, but he still could not prevent the bitter feelings from rising in his chest. He hated these people, these men and women who blew up bridges, and bombed buildings, and assassinated government officials all in the name of a better world. Everyone believed the world would be better if they ran it; it was one thing to light-heartedly muse about these feelings, it was another to commit murder and terrorism in their name.

In their particularly sick and twisted fashion their favorite days for wreaking havoc were often the ones which should be spent in quiet remembrance. His sister was one of their favorite targets and these depraved individuals frequently chose the days that held significance to her past deeds to defile her legacy by killing as many people as they could. August 23rd, the day she had vanished, was one of their favorites; they saw these crimes as some sort of perverted celebration. It angered him beyond words; she had been a kind and peaceful person, she did not deserve to be remembered in this way.

"Milliardo?" his wife's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"I'm fine Lu." he answered as casually as possible. He knew it was obvious to her that he was lying, but he as long as she didn't say so he couldn't care less.

He looked to his left and out one of the many large windows along the wall. The palace sat atop the highest point of New Port City, below them the lights of the Sanq Kingdom's capital glittered in the night. From here everything looked so peaceful, much the way it had when he had been growing up. Zechs had lost track of the number of times he'd wondered what his family, his father, mother, and sister, would think if they could see what had become of their country. He had gone against their ideals of pacifism and involved their home land in a war. However deep in his heart, he knew that despite this they would be proud of him. He had done what everyone else had been afraid to do in order to give the ESUN government a fighting chance.

- - - - -

_Milliardo Peacecraft stepped out of the elevator when it reached the thirty-eighth floor. Despite being a visitor in the complex building he did not need directions, he'd lost count of the hours he's spent here over the past five months._

_Une's secretary only waved him towards the door as he passed the desk outside of it. He knocked quickly and didn't wait for a reply before entering. The scene was somewhat surprising but also to be expected. Une's usually neat office was littered with drawing boards, carts of files, piles of papers, and stacks of boxes. He tried to step around them without disturbing anything, but this was easier said then done. It was only his jacket knocking several pieces of paper onto the floor that finally alerted Une to his presence._

_"Milliardo." She nodded curtly at him. "Dr. Cordell has not yet arrived, can I have Nicole bring you anything while we wait?"_

_"No, that's quite alright." he answered as he bent down to scoop up the sheets of paper that had fallen to the ground._

_Une's head had dipped back behind the mountain of folders and documents on her desk. "I apologize for all this Milliardo, I can only give you about twenty-five minutes today."_

_The door behind them opened and Dr. Cordell stopped short and then began making his way towards Une's desk in much the same manner he had. Cordell extended his hand to him. "Mr. Peacecraft, good to see you again."_

_Zechs shook his hand, "Like wise, Dr. Cordell." He stepped to the side of the room, and Une stood to join them. As they settled into their seats Zechs extracted several folders from his briefcase. "I know that our time is limited so I'll get straight to the point." He opened one of the folders which contained a great number of legal documents and pushed them to the center of the table. "I'm here to offer the Sanq Kingdom as a place of temporary asylum for the members of the ESUN government and their families."_

_At first neither of them spoke. Cordell reached out in front of him to drag the folder to where he was sitting, Une's expression was unreadable. He sat back in his seat and watched as Cordell began flipping through the pages in front of him, muttering to himself. Zechs had expected this reaction out of them, hell he'd had the same one when the idea first came to him. Finally Une managed to formulate words. "You want to move the ESUN government to the Sanq Kingdom?"_

_"Temporarily." he repeated as he drew his chair closer to the table and repositioned himself. "Commander, let's not sugarcoat the situation we're facing. The Prime Minister of ESUN has been branded a traitor and a criminal, two weeks ago he escaped capture along with several members of his cabinet, and Preventers has yet to make any discernable progress in securing his location. Almost half of the members of Parliament have left in order to join him, where ever he may be and those that have remained loyal to ESUN are either being kidnapped or killed at an alarming rate."_

_Une straightened her glasses, "Yes, Mr. Peacecraft and Preventers is doing everything within our power to handle -"_

_"We both know that everything within the power of Preventers is not going to be enough." His voice rose a bit, "Commander, fourteen Parliament members have been kidnapped since Josef escaped, twenty-five more have been assassinated, four of them on the steps of the Capital Building! Three days ago Woodrow and Dern's bodies were dumped in the middle of Center Square - "_

_"I am well aware of all of this Milliardo." Une's voice was stern, but not loud. "But what you are proposing - "_

_"Is a way to better protect what's left of the government." Cordell interrupted._

_Both Une and Zechs looked to him, surprised at his comment, as he continued to speak. "Commander, I agree with Mr. Peacecraft. The attention of Preventers is simply stretched too far in order to adequately provide for the safety of the remaining members of Parliament. Josef and his forces are too heavily entrenched in Brussels; we have no way to identify them from anyone else, they are using guerrilla tactics against us and turning this city into a war-zone. Countless civilian lives are being lost as Leon's Army is attempting to eradicate the legitimate government, not to mention the fact that they are succeeding. I have been sitting in on Parliament since Josef's escape and I can tell you that they are unable to do anything in this state. Many are too afraid to even show up, and those that do are putting themselves at great risk."_

_Cordell paused to remove his glasses. "What Mr. Peacecraft is suggesting would allow the for the ESUN government to safely distance itself from the fighting taking place, and give them time to regroup."_

_"The Sanq Kingdom's Royal Guard would be more than happy to cooperate with Preventers to ensure their security." Zechs cut in. "I would be willing to expand the force in order to comply with what Preventers feels is necessary, and always under their supervision of course."_

_He could see the wheels turning in Une's head; he understood her dilemma having thought through it himself already. It was a bold move and it certainly made the Sanq Kingdom a potential target once again, but the region's geographic location and relatively neutral policies meant that it had not yet been involved in the war being waged over much of Europe and was rapidly spreading to the rest of the world. If nothing else this put them a step ahead of everyone else; the Sanq Kingdom was a primarily a series of peninsulas in the North and Baltic Seas. Regardless of the season, entering the kingdom from the north was nearly impossible due to the temperatures alone; almost everything to the south required entry by boat or plane. In short, the area was manageable and could easily serve as a stronghold for their purposes._

_"We can't just pack up and run away." Une's quiet voce jarred him from his thoughts._

_"Commander, I understand your hesitancy, but nothing will be accomplished if the entire ESUN government is wiped out again."_

_She nodded, her eyes unfocused, then turned to Cordell, "How . . . well how do we explain this? What do we tell the ESUN members, or the population of the world for that matter?"_

_Cordell closed the folder in front of him and began cleaning his glasses absentmindedly. "Une, what is most important right now is that we make it very clear to everyone on the planet that ESUN is still the ruling government. The course of action we would have to convince Parliament and others to follow is this: ESUN will take refuge in the Sanq Kingdom, from there they will officially announce themselves at war with a power working towards their demise. They will declare their government to be the legitimate ruling power of Earth and that they are temporarily in exile until they can claim the capital as their own again."_

_Une did not move for what seemed like an eternity. Finally she leaned forward to look Zechs straight in the eye. "The Preventers Bureau's Global Headquarters will remain in Brussels. I cannot allow the only form of military power ESUN has to flee the capital city; I will not leave it to the devices Nicholas Josef."_

_Her eyes were cold and hard, her expression was blank and even though he never would, Zechs knew this was one point he could not argue. "I agree with you completely Commander."_

_"Understand this," she continued in the same deadly sounding tone, "we will not be here, or any where else in the world for that matter, only to manage the damage these men cause. The purpose of this organization is to work against men like Nicholas Josef; we will not allow him and his army to slowly take over the capital and claim it for his own. We will be actively fighting him and his forces, with or without the approval of ESUN."_

_"I have a feeling, Lady Une" Cordell began, "that the remaining ESUN members will be more than happy to entrust that duty to the Preventers Bureau." Zechs could swear that he saw some hint of a smile on the older man's face._

_Une pushed her chair back and stood from her seat. "Am I correct, Milliardo, in believing that you and your wife will be willing to organize the safe transfer of the ESUN members and their families to the Sanq Kingdom?"_

_"Yes Commander, I was hoping to use Yalta in order to oversee –"_

_"That's fine." She interrupted him. "Will you and Yuy be able to work through this without killing each other?"_

_He tried not to look indignant at the question; his relationship with Heero was still neither warm nor fuzzy, but that didn't mean he disliked the man . . . well not as much as before anyway. "I think we will manage Une."_

_He saw the corners of her mouth curl the slightest bit. "Alright, I realize you haven't even begun to plan the operation yet, but do have any sort of estimate as to how long you think this will take?"_

_He did have an estimate; actually he already had the beginnings of a plan in place. "With the cooperation of Preventers and the Royal Guard, I believe we can have most of the ESUN members safely within the borders of the Sanq Kingdom by the end of the month."_

_She finally stopped to look up from the papers she held in front of her, a slightly surprised expression on her face. "Well then Mr. Peacecraft, make it so."_

- - - - -

Zechs watched as Lucrezia shut her laptop and stood from the desk where she was seated. "What were you working on?"

"Just responding to an e-mail Trowa sent me this afternoon. He's back in Brussels but will be stopping here before heading back out to Panama next week. He wanted to make sure I'd be available to meet with him and Une at some point."

She climbed into the bed next to him and Zechs couldn't help but notice how worn out she looked. Lucrezia had retained her position as Preventers agent but had also taken on the task of resident liaison between the Bureau and the ESUN government. He had been too occupied with the responsibilities that came with running a country and hiding a government while assisting in waging a war.

The Sanq Kingdom had become the stronghold for the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. The political atmosphere was tense and complicated, but between he and his wife they had managed to bring some sort of organization to the chaos. To say it had been an uphill battle was an understatement; he'd faced opposition from all sides. With the exception of one person, he and Lucrezia had been almost unable to convince anyone that what he was proposing was the only way to win their battle.

- - - - -

_"You want to create a what for the Sanq Kingdom?!" Une was incredulous._

_He tried to keep his voice calm, the woman just was not understanding him. "I don't want to create anything Une, I want to expand upon something that is already in place."_

_She rubbed the bridge of her nose with two of her fingers and let her head fall back against the wooden chair. Cordell looked startled by her uncharacteristic outburst but covered for it by busying himself with another cookie from the plate in front of them._

_The kitchen of the Sanq Kingdom's palace hardly seemed like the place for such a meeting, but here they were. Zechs looked to his left where his wife sat next to Heero Yuy, both maintained calm expressions. Across the table, Duo Maxwell was not doing quite as well, having choked on the cookie he was eating as Zechs had made his proposal; Dorothy and Quatre were seated beside him, the former watching him with mild amusement and the latter with slight concern._

_"Commander, how are we to fight a war without an army?" Heero asked dryly._

_"What the hell do you think that badge on your jacket is for Agent Yuy?! Decoration?! You have it because ESUN saw fit to create an elite organization that would put a stop to the need for armies. Preventers exists so that the military forces of the past will never have to again!" Une's face was getting slightly red. "And now you want to create an army for the Sanq Kingdom of all places?!"_

_"Not create – "_

_"Fine, expand upon. But neither of you can sit there an honestly tell me that you believe the Sanq Kingdom's Royal Guard constitutes anything even beginning to resemble an army."_

_"That's our point Commander," Lucrezia cut in, "we've managed to move all of the ESUN members to the Sanq Kingdom. They're safe for now, but it won't take long for Josef to figure out how to get in here and start killing them again, and the Royal Guard as it is will not be able to protect them."_

_"Aside from that," Heero continued, "how is the Preventers Bureau supposed to carryout a war on a global scale? As you just said, we are an elite organization, and being elite means that while we are better equip and better skilled, we lack the sheer numbers to hold our own against someone like Josef."_

_There was a coughing sound as Duo finally managed to clear his airway. "Whoa, guys come on, we don't even know what Josef's got at this point."_

_"A lot." Heero and Lucrezia responded simultaneously._

_"When Josef left he took his 'Assembly Guard' with him and I'm beginning to suspect that it was a lot larger than he let on." Zechs furrowed his brow as he spoke. "Aside from that he's got Leon's Army, and we know that they number into the hundred thousands with that number probably increasing everyday."_

_"Commander, if we cannot call the situation we are already in a war it will certainly be one soon." Dorothy joined the conversation. "I understand your hesitation, but frankly I don't see any other choice."_

_Quatre did not look as convinced, "Can't all of you see where this could lead? This is always how wars begin, nobody wants fighting and they swear that they will disband their military forces once the war is over, but then the other side refuses to get rid of their army, so they need to keep theirs as a security measure, and then they'll starting fighting again and the whole process starts all over!"_

_"Quatre, when this war is over, there will not be an army left for Josef to disband." The younger man looked startled by his words, but Zechs continued. "We must all be in agreement that Josef and his forces have to be completely eradicated. We cannot allow them to continue on when they have made it obvious they will not rest until they have destroyed ESUN and reinstated the Alliance to power." He turned to face Une, "What Heero, Lucrezia, and myself are proposing is the best way to fight Josef and ensure that when all is said and done we can go back to needing only Preventers._

_I will allow for the temporary expansion of the Royal Guard and we will waive the citizenship requirement ordinarily needed to join. Anyone who wished to join us will be welcome under the condition that they understand the army will be disbanded once peace is again restored. Until then I will offer the services of this army to ESUN, who will in turn," he nodded in Dorothy's direction, "turn over its control to the Preventers Bureau."_

_"I would change the chain of command in one way, Mr. Peacecraft." Dr. Cordell injected, "In order to make it clear that the world that this army is on loan only, so to speak, you should be the final word on what it does and does not do. If Commander Une is willing, I believe it would be best if the command of this military came from its country's leader directly."_

_"I agree." Heero nodded, "We also thought it best that there be no officers in their ranks; privates, corporals, and sergeants only."_

_Commander Une did not speak, she sat with her head propped up by her hands with a pensive expression on her face. Finally she sat up and looked to Zechs. "I don't like that you are constantly talking me into thing that I would otherwise never consider lately."_

_"I'm going to do this regardless Une, I just hope that Preventers will agree to cooperate."_

_She closed her eyes and bowed her head once more, "We will."_

_He smiled and began to stand from his chair, but Une's voice stopped him._

_"And Milliardo, God help us all if you are wrong."_

- - - - -

Zechs could not sleep. Quietly tossing the covers aside he climbed out of bed and pulled on a pair of sneakers and a jacket. He opened the door into the hall and quietly navigated the long passages with only the aid of the moonlight.

He hadn't been wrong, he thought to himself as he stealthily slipped out one of the many door that led to the palace grounds. He hadn't been wrong in his decision to create, or rather expand upon the Sanq Kingdom's Royal Guard. Had it not been for them this war would have been over a long time ago, and not in their favor. The Tenth Legion, or L-10 as they had come to be called, had proven themselves to be worth every bit of the effort it had taken to bring about their creation.

Off in the distance he could see several of the outposts of the Royal Guard, theirs being most of the very few lights that still shone throughout New Port City. He regarded them for a moment before continuing on to his destination. Despite the chill in the night air, the ground was warm beneath his feet.

He continued to walk through the gardens and out onto the vast lawns that surrounded the palace. Finally coming to one of the cliffs that overlooked the sea and the city he stopped in front of the lone Weeping Willow tree that stood at its edge. Glancing down the hill to his left he could see the white marble of his family's vast mausoleum gleaming in the darkness.

He had been to Brussels this morning to lay flowers on his sister's cenotaph and returned as soon as possible, more than anything else he found that city a troubling place. The Sanq Kingdom had of course held its own services, nothing too overdone, just enough to convey that she was missed. He had watched from the palace, unable to bring himself to join them. He felt slightly disrespectful for this, but the citizens of New Port City seemed to understand.

A cool breeze rushed up from the ocean, blowing his long hair around his face. This spot had constantly been his place of refuge, even as a small boy. This was where his father had always taken them on their walks; no matter what direction they began in, they would always make their way back to this place to gaze upon their ancestors and remember the duty that fell to them. Relena had spent so little time in her own kingdom and had no memory of her parents; despite this she came to understand what they had wanted for their country and for their children more than he ever could. All her life it had been obvious that the Sanq Kingdom ran in her blood.

Relena's memorial had been placed in Brussels, but to him this would always be her final resting place.


	7. Why We Fight

So, finally here is the seventh chapter. I am so sorry for taking so long with this, I moved a couple of weeks ago and dealing with that was just consuming all my time. To make it up to you I added something at the end I wasn't planning on actually writing out ;). Hopefully you'll enjoy it.

Anyway, this a very information heavy chapter so continuing with that theme, before the story I've put a short timeline of events up to this point just to avoid confusion, (thank you for the suggestion). Again thank you reviewing and I promise I'll try to get the next couple chapters out as quickly as possible.

**Timeline of Events thus far in Occam's Razor:**

**AC 199:**

August 23 – Relena disappears.

End of October – Heero's breakdown.

**AC 120:**

January 24 – John Caincross infects himself with the Echidna Virus while in S.America.

January 25 – Prime Minister Franz and his cabinet are infected.

January 26 – Franz presides over a full house of Parliament for the Annual Address.

January 28 – Franz is taken to the hospital, Caincross is discovered dead.

January 29 – Franz and other members of Parliament begin dying.

February 2 – Representative Albert kills himself, Leon's Army announces themselves.

February 4 – Nicholas Josef is selected to serve as the temporary Prime Minister.

February 11 – The Provisional Parliament meets for the first time.

April 2 – News of the vaccine being created is announced.

May 3 – The global bombing attack launched by Leon's Army.

May 13 – Dorothy challenges Josef's rule and forms her investigatory committee.

May 24 – Franklin is murdered and Dorothy attacked, the committee is hidden away.

June 2 – Heero and Duo inform Une of Josef's true identity and goals.

June 3 – Trotsky reveals Hall to be a traitor; Josef and cohorts escape capture.

June 18 – Une, Cordell, and Zechs decide to move ESUN to the Sanq Kingdom.

July 20 – Zechs issues the formation of the Tenth Legion of the Royal Guards.

August 23 – Relena's case is officially closed and a memorial is placed in Brussels.

September 10 – Josef resurfaces and declares war.

Okay, so hopefully that will have helped to clear up any questions, now on to the story. Enjoy!

- - - - -

Occam's Razor

Chapter Seven – Why We Fight

Tynan

Heero felt something vibrate against his side. In one fluid motion he unclipped his cell phone and held it up to his ear; there was no need to look at the caller ID, only one person would be calling him on this number at this time.

"This is Agent Yuy."

"Are you still on the scene Yuy?" Commander Une's voice was brisk but tired sounding. He almost felt a little bad for her; she had just left for Brussels a day and a half ago after going nearly a month without seeing her daughter.

"Yes Commander, Gord and I will be heading back to HQ in shortly." He paused for a moment before adding, "There's not much we can do here."

"I just spoke to Officer Parsons, she was unable to give me much information other than that there was an explosion." Heero picked up the electronic data board that was lying on the table next to him and began punching in a few commands. "Medical's list indicates that they've taken 76 civilians to area hospitals as of 10:15; they'll update again at 10:30. Engineering has stabilized what's left of Bridge One, the pedestrian walkway, and is working on the second as we speak." He continued to scroll though the information. "According to Agent Lexerd's notes the other two probably won't be declared safe until early tomorrow morning. The Disaster Response Unit is finishing up and Crime Scene is starting to get to work. They'll see if they can pull anything out of the canal that will give us something to start on."

She didn't respond right away, but Heero knew what she was going to ask next. "And casualties?"

Heero took a breath he didn't realize that he needed before scrolling through the information in front of him. "So far Recovery's pulled 51 bodies out of the water. They don't have an exact number from the bridges yet . . . they've got a lot of parts to pick up." He tried to use as much tact as he could but there was simply no nice way to articulate that for the next two weeks the Preventers morgue was going to be trying to piece God knows how many people back together.

"Heero," the use of his first name usually indicated this was off the record, "your assessment, how bad is it?"

"I'd say we're looking at least 150 dead, and that's not counting the critical cases taken to the hospital."

She sighed into the phone and cursed under her breath, "Are all our guys accounted for?"

"All of the agents and officers that responded are all accounted for, yes. As for 'our guys', Tehran still hasn't gotten back from China, Cairo went straight back to HQ where I'm assuming Quebec still is. Atlantic's on the scene with the Medical Team, Malta's probably at his home, but both he and Moscow haven't reported in . . . and I have no idea what Arcadia's location is."

"You're not supposed to." She responded dryly, "Alright, when you or Cherchell get a few minutes on your way back try and get in touch with them. I want to hear from you again in half an hour."

"Understood, Commander." He was about to hang up when she continued.

"Yuy, first impression, who do you like for it?"

"This has Ajani written all over it Commander." he responded without hesitation.

"Alright then, I'll let you get back to work. We'll be in touch." Une hung up the phone before he could say anything else.

Heero set the data board down and stepped out of the tent he had been standing under. For the most part the frantic pace of the situation had calmed down. He had been walking along one of the many canal roads back to Preventers HQ to change and pick up his car before heading to O'Malley's when he'd seen the explosions off in the distance. It had taken him only 15 minutes to cover the two miles; he could have made it in less had the sidewalks not been clogged with people gawking at the scene. It had been chaos when he'd arrived; cars and parts of the bridges were still on fire, people were thrashing about in the water, and the injured were screaming from all sides. The Rescue and Medical teams had already begun to arrive; he found Sally easily enough and took control of the situation from there.

Nearly two and a half hours later all the fires had been put out and the survivors were pulled from the wreckage and being given medical attention. As he walked out toward the edge of what was left of the bridge in front of him, Heero pulled his radio off his belt clip and switched the channel. "Gord, you there?"

There was moment of static before the sarcastic voice of Anthony Gord rang out of the speaker. "Yup, sorry Yuy, I'm still here."

"What's your location?"

"I'm with the Engineering Team at the bottom of the Pedestrian Bridge, I can see you from here actually, look to your left."

Heero did so and looking down could make out Gord's figure standing at the edge of the water some forty-five feet below him. "Yeah, I see you." he tried not to roll his eyes, "Have our guys pack it up and head back to HQ, we have to get out of the way for Crime Scene. I'm going to try to get in touch with Malta and Moscow - "

"I just spoke to Malta, he's safe at home. Says to let him know if we need anything." he sounded slightly exasperated.

"But no word from Moscow?"

"None, I only tried him once, it went through to his voicemail."

Heero nodded to no one particular. "Try him again then. And make sure that engineering and medical update their charts before they leave the scene, the information isn't any help if they list it once they've gotten back to HQ."

"Rodger that Yuy." Anthony abruptly switched to another channel. Heero watched from the edge of the bridge as he walked over to another agent and began speaking to them. He could not help but shake his head; Anthony Gord was one guy he just didn't get. He had to be the most sane crazy person he had ever met; the man was paranoid like no other but perfectly at peace with that, everything was a conspiracy, and anyone might be out to get them. Despite his constant suspicion he managed to keep it himself for the most part. Heero supposed this is why he had been the perfect undercover operative, though he couldn't help but wonder if he'd always been this way or his time as a spy made him like this. As it were now, he fit in well with Security and Intelligence. Duo often joked that Gord was their Worst-Case-Scenario Guy; whatever the mission or operation Anthony was ready to explain every possible way it could go wrong and what to do about it. The man lived and died by Murphy's Law.

Heero continued to walk out to the edge of the destroyed bridge in order to distance himself from the noise behind him. He surveyed the area around him. Burned out cars and debris littered the pavement, which came to an abrupt and jagged end not twenty feet in front of him. A faint ringing sound suddenly broke the air and he instinctively reached for his cell phone only to discover that the noise was not coming from it.

Ordinarily he would have ignored this, but the ring he heard was the same as his own meaning where ever this ringing phone was it probably belonged to a Preventer. Listening for a moment, he quickly discovered the device in question lying on the ground about ten feet behind where he had been standing next to the charred remains of a car. Heero bent down to pick it up and his heart stopped as his eyes fell on the caller ID.

Flipping open the phone he practically yelled into the other end, "Anthony?!"

There was a confused second before he answered, "Heero? Did I hit the wrong number?"

Heero closed his eyes and tried to calm his now racing heart. "No, you didn't."

"Shit." Anthony let out a long breath before continuing, "Is there - well like? Is there anything that - "

"I don't see a body or anything." He looked to the burned out over turned vehicle in front of him, "And I don't think this was Moscow's car."

Anthony didn't answer right away so Heero picked up, "Stay where you are, I'll find Atlantic and see what she knows."

"Right, and someone should, ya know call . . ." He could practically hear the other man shuddering at the thought from here.

"I'll do it once we know something, there's no sense getting her all worked up."

"Yeah good call," Gord sounded relieved to say the least. He'd had a few too many encounters with a very angry Dorothy to want to inflict unnecessary ones upon himself. "Let me know what you find out."

"Hn." With that parting syllable Heero hung up the phone and began walking back across the bridge.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that Quatre was okay, but he couldn't quiet the thought that he might have somehow been targeted. In actuality this was highly unlikely; Yalta had been extremely careful to disguise the identity of its members. It was widely speculated that Commander Une had within her ranks an elite task force serving as the brain trust of the war effort, but with only thirteen surviving members it was relatively easy to hide themselves. Une met with specific groups of people on a regular basis, some were Preventers agents, some were politicians, some were military leaders; there was no way for anyone to pin which group might be Yalta. The brilliance of it all was that none were, rather Yalta was comprised of the agents, the politicians, and the military leaders.

Much to the surprise of all of them, they had remained safe for over two and half years now. After Theodore Hall's betrayal came to light Une had temporarily disbanded the Yalta Task Force; they waited for the repercussions that they were all sure would come but then never did. It seemed that for some reason or another, Hall had never divulged the names of any of the members to Josef; only Dorothy had been discovered through the actions of Kamenev. Even then, Josef and his then cabinet believed her to be nothing more than a tool of Preventers.

Why Hall had kept their secret remained a mystery; Trowa's reasoning was that it was his trump card. Once the Echidna Epidemic had been resolved Josef had no use for him, in fact he became a liability. Hall possessed information that could ruin Josef before his plan came to fruition; more than likely he used the Yalta Force to blackmail Josef into keeping himself alive. Their enemies knew that they existed, not who they actually were. The exception had been Trotsky, who had disappeared shortly after coming to warn them of Hall's ties to Josef. No one had heard from him since, it was generally believed that he'd been killed on Josef's orders, taking their secret with him.

At the moment however, this did not comfort Heero. He knew that Quatre was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time, but with how things were going lately he wouldn't put anything past Ajani, including discovering the identities of the members of Une's inner circle. Two years and eighty-one days ago, Nicholas Josef had escaped from Brussels, taking most of his cabinet members with him. For almost three months he remained hidden before announcing his presence to the world once again; this time from Johannesburg, Africa. Despite all of Preventers and the newly forming L-10 rushing to the aid of those stationed there, it had taken Josef and his army a matter of weeks to secure all the bases and forts in the southern and central half of the continent. With their foot securely in the door they began working their north, stopping at the base of the Sahara desert.

Cordell and Dorothy had expected the people in those conquered regions to rebel against Josef for the damage he had inflicted upon the world, Une and himself had at least believed that there would be unrest and a call for help. To all of their shock and amazement however, many of the people there embraced Josef and his followers. It was no secret that Africa had its problems. Despite all the health care and aid ESUN could offer, disease and famine were still common. The population there had sky-rocketed in the post-Alliance boom some seventy years ago and there was simply not enough livable land for everyone. The entire continent had suffered a series of major set-backs in the 180s and just as they had begun to recover the Echidna Virus was there to devastate them once again.

It had been incredibly easy for Josef to win over the people of that continent with promises of a better life under his rule. Years before his single-handed coup he had sent Leon's Army to some of the poorest areas of Africa to offer medical treatment, build schools and hospitals, and help reestablish farming communities. It had been a brilliant strategy one that allowed Josef to slowly and quietly build an infrastructure of support woven through most of the continent. From his seat in Africa he had proclaimed himself, his cabinet members, and the ESUN representatives that had left to follow him the legitimate government of the planet. Like the faction of ESUN residing in the Sanq Kingdom, he also declared himself to be in exile until the time came when he could quell the subversive forces which overthrew him and reclaim the capital and control of the Earth.

Some areas in the northern central part of Africa had resisted Josef and were quickly put down; they were now forced to live in quiet discontent, oppressed but unable to do anything about it. Nicholas Josef and his forces overwhelmed the territory they had claimed as their own. From what intelligence could tell them Josef now had something like three separate armies; the Assembly Guard had been rechristened the Oprichniki they served as Josef's personal security force, but also his spy and intelligence network. The Oprichniki handled all of Josef's dirty work; kidnappings, assassinations, imprisonment, torture, and any and all subversive activities bore their name. Leon's Army had developed into Josef's personal military; they were spread out across the globe and easily numbered into the hundred thousands. Their actions and practices were like any other army; they had commanding officers, bases, their own equipment, their own supply chains and anything else they could need. In a way it made them easier to fight, unlike the Oprichniki and Ajani they were out in the open.

Ajani had possibly become their greatest threat. Comprised primarily civilians, Ajani was a terrorist organization that had developed in Africa after Josef took over the continent. The ordinary, everyday people living there had taken it upon themselves to aid Josef and his forces by causing as much damage to Preventers and ESUN as they could. Josef frequently claimed, that they had no official ties to him and his government; while this was probably true, he certainly was not doing anything to stop them either.

Ajani was able to operate on a small and therefore secretive level; their members were next to impossible to distinguish from any other person walking down the street. Bombing civilian targets had become one of their favorite past times and they were getting very good at it. Their ability to infiltrate organizations was also becoming a problem; this year alone three of their members had managed to work their way into the ranks of Preventers at two different field offices in Rome and Hanoi. All three had quickly been discovered but it left a cloud of paranoia hanging over the Preventers Bureau.

Ajani had not been the only rebel group to emerge from the chaos; anyone with a vendetta and a small arsenal used the chaos that enveloped ESUN to make themselves known to the world. Most of these groups were small and easily discovered and broken up after a short investigation; two in particular were not. The more troublesome was known as 'The Alliance of Revolutionary Forces' or 'ARF as Duo called them. Their aims were straight forward, they were anarchist and so they attacked both ESUN's and Josef's forces. They were also extraordinarily secretive and nearly impossible to track down. In the nearly two years since they first surfaced, Preventers and L-10 had only been able to capture two of their members alive; one managed to poison himself with a cyanide capsule before he could be questioned, the other refused to divulge even his name and was still being held in a detention facility in Iceland.

Aside from ARF, they had 'The Amazon Network' to deal with. At first, no one was quite sure what they were, let alone what their aims were. They attacked Preventers and L-10 forces seemingly at random and with no discernable goal. As their escapades continued it soon became clear that they were comprised of several groups of smugglers and arms dealers looking to make as much money as they could from the situation. Their 'network' as it came to be called, was actually more of a field of competition. It was comprised of around a dozen or so large and influential gangs, all operating primarily out of South America. While they all were after the same thing, they were fighting each other for it. Generally none of the Amazon Network necessarily cared who won and who lost, but as they never went after the Oprichniki, Leon's Army, or Ajani, it quickly became obvious that Josef was their best client. All the groups that had sprung up stood to oppose and destroy ESUN; there had been only one exception: Keiji.

Heero reached one of the medical tents and picked up the nearest data board he could find. Quickly entering commands and scrolling through the results he was unable to find Quatre's name, or a description of an unidentified person that fit him. Tossing the device aside he again reached for his radio, but stopped as he saw Sally Po making her way towards him. She wore a knowing look on her face and possibly the faintest of smiles.

"Quatre's fine, he's not listed on the chart. We didn't want whoever was responsible for this to know that they'd nearly killed one of ESUN's colonial delegates."

Heero nodded, "Where is he?"

"I had him taken to Preventer's Infirmary." Sally scanned the electronic screen in her hand. "Looks like he's being placed in Ward B. You can see him tomorrow."

"I'll stop by and see him tonight -"

"No, you won't." Sally cut him off, "I just updated Une on the situation. She said since there was nothing any of you could do at this point you, Gord, and Duo are to all go home and get some rest."

Heero tried not to look highly annoyed but did a very poor job of it. Sally laughed lightly at the expression on his face and continued. "She's called a Yalta meeting for tomorrow morning; I think some of us are getting a new assignment."

"Hn."

"Heero, I'm serious." The tone in her voice was clearly meant to taunt him. "She also mentioned that if she finds out you went back to HQ she'll put you on Orientation Detail at the Academy again for the next month." She leaned in closer to him with a wicked smile on her face, "And you remember how much fun that was right?"

Heero internally shuddered at the memory and resigned himself to the sleepless night that was sure to be waiting for him at his home. "Did someone call Dorothy and let her know Quatre's alright?"

Sally had turned away for a moment to give orders to one of her officers; when she looked back the expression on her face was something like a mix between sympathy and concern. "I'll let her know, don't worry about it." She brought her eyes to meet his. "Heero, I mean this is the most loving of ways, but you look like hell." She instinctively waited for a reaction out of him, but knew that none would come. "Go home, get some sleep. There's nothing for you to do here right now."

He didn't speak, he just turned around and began walking out of the tent but again the sound of her voice stopped him.

"Heero, have you . . . well has Wufei gotten in touch with you?"

Heero twisted his head back to face her, "No, he hasn't."

"Oh, well I guess – "

"He's fine."

She smiled sadly at him before turning back to her officers. Heero watched her for a moment as she strode over to where they were clustered together and began assigning them tasks. She shouldn't be worried, Wufei was only two days late getting back. Considering what he was doing, this sort of thing was to be expected.

Sally and Wufei were very private about their relationship. It was common knowledge that they were a couple but few dared to speak it out loud, let alone address one of them directly on the issue. It had taken them the better part of a year to finally sort out their feelings for each other; Duo never understood what was holding them back, a fact he was not quiet about. But Heero understood; he appreciated what it meant to care deeply for someone and not know what to do about it. He knew the kind of situation they had found themselves in; both people were too afraid to break the status quo, unsure of what would happen to their lives, their jobs, and their current relationship with each other. Unlike him however, they did not know what it was like to lose that other person. While neither would ever admit to it but it had been Relena's disappearance that led to Sally and Wufei coming to terms with their feelings.

Heero continued on through the tents and towards the barricade that had been set up. He flashed his badge to the guard there and made his way out to the now deserted street. He glanced over the darkened city and off into the distance. His car was still at the Preventers parking garage and it was a good eleven mile walk to his apartment from here, but he could use the fresh air. He'd have Duo drive them to HQ tomorrow and bring his car home that night.

Duo and Hilde had never moved out after the May 3rd bombings almost two and a half years ago. In the months that followed, the world had quickly escalated into a state of war. He and Duo were sent all over the planet on a regular basis; they could be in the Sanq Kingdom for months then trudging around a jungle in Africa knee deep in mud the next week. It had been he that suggested they just remain there; while he would never acknowledge it, he liked having them around and living with Duo made life . . . interesting.

Heero continued down the empty streets towards the colorful canal neighborhoods of Brussels. Any other night this area would have been bustling with people enjoying the late summer air but tonight all of the pubs and restaurants were closed up and the lights in the houses and stores long since put out. He walked this street regular basis and each time it became more and more desolate. It was subtle things that most would not easily notice, like flower pots that had been taken down or chairs and tables that were never replaced after being destroyed. In some ways seeing these things made him angry; after everything that had happened these people should be doing all that they could to continue on with their lives while standing against Josef and those who attacked them. These tiny little things, that no one else would probably notice, to him were signs of a slow defeat, of people beginning to loose the will to resist. On some level he could not blame them, they were tired of war. However, he also didn't see peace as an option under the rule of Nicholas Josef. But their resolve was beginning to wane, even Preventers was feeling the strain though they had no intention of slowing down. Their greatest disadvantage right now was their lack of allies . . . well technically they did have one. Keiji had been the ones willing to openly declare themselves against Josef and his forces. Keiji itself was a paramilitary group that had been around for several decades; since the formation of the Alliance over seven decades ago they had opposed every bit of it. Back then they were a very small group based primarily on the Japanese isles, specifically in Izu. Keiji had attempted to keep the Alliance out of South East Asia but were easily crushed. Forced to regroup underground they were not heard from for almost seventy years, not until Josef announced his presence in Africa.

It was clear that they had been ready for this; Keiji was extraordinarily well organized and extremely well hidden. This time it was not just the Japanese that were fighting with them; their surprising new ally was found in the Irish, who for the most part had also vehemently opposed the Alliance's rule and like Keiji were crushed. From what Wufei could tell them the two had joined forces and spent seven decades slowly building themselves a global network with the intention of over-throwing the Alliance once they had the power, however OZ and Romefeller beat them to it. Despite the relative peace of the years following the Eve Wars they had remained on their guard and continued to operate quietly under the radar of both ESUN and the Preventers, with the exception of one Preventer that is.

Wufei Chang was the only person outside of the organization with inside knowledge of it. It was a generally understood that Keiji's primary bases of operation were now located somewhere in the region of China; those within Yalta knew not only that this was true but also that at least one of the bases was located somewhere on the Long Clan's ancestral grounds. This was the reason they contacted Wufei and after several weeks of deliberation with Une and Cordell it was decided he should accept their offer to be the go between for Keiji and Preventers.

Heero was unsure of how much Wufei actually knew about the inner workings of the organization but he knew it was more than he was allowed to say. Wufei's role to Keiji was basically that of a military coordinator; three or four times a year he would trek to an undisclosed location to meet with key members of Keiji. They would exchange information regarding planned operations, potential targets, and any covert missions they were working on. The purpose of these meeting was quite simply so that Keiji would not unwillingly attack, bomb, damage, sabotage, reveal, destroy, or hamper Preventer's efforts against Josef. Wufei kept both sides on a strictly need to know basis, and Heero had to admit that he hadn't failed them yet.

While they were enemies of Josef, Keiji never declared themselves to be allies of ESUN but for now, their dislike of Josef was enough. Officially Keiji was a vigilante paramilitary organization whose actions Preventers could not condone; unofficially they were to be left to their own devices. Wufei would secretly serve as their intermediary for as long as they would have him and once Josef was out of the way, Preventers would decide what to do about them. They had rejected Wufei's offers to work in conjuncture with Preventers several times claiming that it was their ability to work in small, covert teams which gave them their edge. Really, it was quite the edge; by Heero's estimate they were approaching a level of destructive capabilities equivalent to that of the Gundams. Targets that Preventers could never dream of attacking, Keiji outright destroyed. One of the few bits of information Wufei gave them was that their effectiveness had to do with their infrastructure which was made up of small independent cells that operated under the command of one of Keiji's higher ups. Officially Keiji had seven leaders, one in charge of overseeing operations, strategy, and diplomatic affairs on each continent. Wufei had revealed their code names to Yalta and insisted that they memorize them: Odaisuke, Oinari, Oizanam, Okimi, Okisho, Oshito, and Oyukio. Who these people really were and why Wufei wanted them to know this information remained a mystery.

As he turned a corner and began walking down his street Heero glanced down at his watch; it was well after 1:00 in the morning now and he could see Duo's car parked in the driveway. He'd left the bridges over an hour and a half ago, Duo was more than likely asleep by now which was fine by him; he didn't want to deal with the questions and knowing looks that would undoubtedly come from his friend. He knew that Duo was well intentioned and that he was just concerned, but Heero was not in the mood to be figured out tonight.

Pushing the door open as quietly as he could and stepping inside, he was met with the low sound of the TV still on in the living room followed by the clicking of four paws against the titled floor as they approached the front door. Hitomi appeared from the kitchen and immediately bounded up to him coming to a dead stop about two feet from where he stood and abruptly sat down in a way that would suggest a military-style salute to her owner. Heero held his hand out as the large white dog obediently gave him her left paw, then her right. As soon as he withdrew she stood on her back legs, throwing her front ones against his chest in a demand for attention. He obliged taking a moment to scratch her ears and neck.

Heero had never really thought of himself as much of an 'animal person' but there was something comforting about this dog, maybe all dogs for that matter. She was predictable, obedient, and straight forward. She had no hidden ulterior motives or bad personality traits, she was simply a dog who wanted to eat, sleep, and play. Truth be told, of the occupants of the house she liked Hilde the best, but she was unwaveringly loyal to Heero. He in turn found her comforting, but knew that at least part of the reason for that were the circumstances in which she was given to him in November 199AC.

- - - - -

_Heero sat on the couch in his living room having just gotten back from a run. Clad in only a pair of sweat pants he had paused to check his e-mail before getting in the shower. Dr. Kelly had only allowed him to return to work four days ago and he was supposed to be taking it easy but he preferred to keep busy. After two weeks of sitting at home, leaving only to go to the store and meet with Dr. Kelly twice a week he could not shake off the feeling of restlessness. Deep down he knew that most of that feeling stemmed from the investigation that had consumed the past three months of his life being taken away from him. Relena's case was becoming cold and Preventers needed him elsewhere . . . that's how this had all started in the first place._

_Heero was suddenly jarred from his thoughts by a sound he very rarely heard: the doorbell ringing. He took a moment to consider who could possibly be on the other side, the only person who ever came here on a regular basis was Duo who never bothered to use the doorbell. He stood and picked up his t-shirt from the chair beside his couch and began pulling it on as he made his way down the stairs and towards the front door._

_Padding quietly down the hall he idly wondered to himself if he should grab the Magnum .357 stashed in the cutlery drawer in the kitchen. Pushing the thought out of his mind he reached for the doorknob and pulled it back to reveal the last person he expected to see._

_"Hilde?" the words came out more surprised than he had meant them to sound. _

_His first thought was that he looked nervous. She was bundled up in a large winter jacket and scarf which guarded her against the cold November air, her short hair was covered by a large knitted hat and matching gloves on her hands. It was not the gloves particularly that caught his attention, it was what they held. Clutched against her chest was, well something, wrapped tightly in a plaid, fleece blanket._

_"Hi, Heero." Her voice was soft and reserved, two qualities he would never have assigned the woman standing in front of him._

_Not knowing what else to do he stepped aside to allow her entrance into the house, she shut the door behind herself and with one hand pulled the large floppy hat off her head. The free arm then quickly returned to the blanket and whatever it contained._

_Neither of them spoke, Heero finally half gestured half shrugged towards the living room. Hilde followed him there and took a seat on the couch across from the chair he had placed himself in. Again, neither of them spoke._

_Heero was unsure of how much time passed before he finally broke the silence. "Is something wrong Hilde?" Even as the words escaped his mouth the thought that something might have happened to Duo crept into his head; his logical side quickly dismissed it._

_Hilde must have realized the momentary panic she inflicted on him as her speech was quick and apologetic. "No! No, nothing's happened, I well . . . well I wanted to um . . ." She trailed off and suddenly became very interested in the floor at her feet._

_Heero was not quite sure what to do. While he had known Hilde for several years now it had always been in the capacity of Duo's girlfriend, they had never spent time together just the two of them. He was watching her, wondering if maybe Duo had sent her to check up on him. She still looked nervous and he couldn't imagine why; yes he was a dangerous (and apparently unstable person), but she lived with Duo, there was no reason she should be this worked up._

_He continued along this train of thought when out of the corner of his eye something near her chest moved. He didn't catch exactly what it was but it didn't seem to be her that moved. She too snapped out of her daze and finally began speaking. "Heero, I'm sorry to just show up like this, after you know, you just got back into . . . well, um I should have called first."_

_"It's fine." His reply was somewhat distracted as he now could not tear his eyes from the blanket she held._

_"Yes well, I, I had wanted to ask you something . . . the other day Duo and I, we got something that we had kind of forgotten about and . . ." Her eyes suddenly began welling up with tears and her voice became strangled. _

_Heero felt himself stiffen, suddenly very uncomfortable and unsure of what to do. Hilde bowed her head again and then without warning stood and trust the blanket she was holding into his arms._

_The first thought that crossed his mind was how warm it was. He did not move the folds of cloth aside to see what they contained, instead he just stared at it. An abrupt movement, however changed his mind; peeling back the plaid colored fleece his eyes were met with what looked like a small, white ball of fluff. The ball of fluff apparently objected to its sudden exposure to the cold outside its makeshift nest and gave a short yelp. It rolled over and revealed two brilliant blue eyes that rivaled even his own. Heero did not move, did not speak; he was transfixed by the pair of eyes staring up at him from his lap._

_"We had gotten her for Relena." He had almost forgotten Hilde was there and her voice startled him._

_"You got her for . . ."_

_"Back before she . . . Duo and I were going to give her to Relena for Christmas. We had to find a breeder and put our name on a list back in March. After she . . . well, we completely forgot about it until the breeder called us four days ago to tell us that he had a puppy for us. We didn't know what to do so we went and got her." Again her eyes began to fill with tears. "Of course we'll keep her if you . . . I just, well I thought that maybe, I mean you're living here all by yourself and you'd . . . maybe like to have someone to come home to . . ." _

_Heero didn't know what the expression on his face at that moment was, but it must have conveyed that he was something akin to being aghast because she immediately launched into an apology._

_"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have – Duo told me that I shouldn't. I understand, I-I'm so sorry, I'll take her with me." She stood to take the little ball of fluff and blue eyes from his arms, but to the surprise of both of them he pulled the bundle of blankets to his chest and stopped her._

_Hilde took a step back. "Heero, you – "_

_"I'll keep her." He cut her off._

_"You will?" Her voice was quiet but clearly surprised._

_He did not answer, he just nodded slightly. In his arms the mesh of white fluff curled against his chest and closed its dazzling blue eyes. Even he was surprised by his decision, but it was something about the helplessness of the creature now asleep in his arms that had so quickly won him over. He was sure Dr. Kelly would have come up with dozens of reasons founded in psychological principles to explain his actions. For him however, no soul searching was required, he knew exactly why._

- - - - -

Heero absentmindedly opened the refrigerator while Hitomi trotted around his legs. It was a good thing that he was bored rather than hungry as Duo had clearly gone on a rampage recently. Shutting the door he glanced towards where the clock hung on the wall behind him which read 1:38. He was not tired by any stretch of the imagination but was not in the mood to sit in front of his laptop for the rest of the night either.

He looked out into the living room where the blue light from the TV revealed Duo sprawled out on the couch, snoring lightly. Rolling his eyes, Heero made his way over to the incredibly large, plasma, flat panel, LCD device that Duo just had to have and turned it off. Almost immediately the figure on the couch sat up.

"Hilde, I was watching that!"

Heero said nothing hoping that his braided friend would just go back to sleep. Instead he blinked in the darkness several times as though trying to figure out where he was. Duo's eyes finally landed on Heero. "Oh hey buddy, you're back finally."

Heero just nodded. "I left my car at HQ, you're going to have to drive tomorrow."

Duo mumbled something before falling back down on the couch, Heero made a mental note to make sure to wake him at the appropriate time tomorrow morning as he started up the steps towards his room. Pulling off his clothes he sat down on his bed and glanced across the room to his nightstand. It was too dark to see what was there, but he knew the only picture frame he owned sat on top of it.

Even just thinking about it brought back so many memories, most of them about her. As he laid back on his bed Relena's face danced through his mind. So much of his life had been tied to her, even after she had vanished. Most, if not all, of his pleasant memories were some how attached to her; the time he had spent the holidays with her and their friends, when they had nearly burned down the Peacecraft Manor trying to build a bonfire to throw all of her old work-related documents in, the practical joke war that had nearly escalated into an international incident. Remembering all of these things were important he had been told, shoving her out of his mind and trying to forget her was not healthy. He had gotten the picture frame to prevent that from happening; on some level it worked he supposed, but it also hurt him to remember these things and know she was never coming back.

He had failed her not only as her protector, but as her friend. He mind drifted back to that night so many times, and every time it did he could not help but think about what he could have done differently. If he'd been a little more careful, a little more attentive, and less distracted maybe none of this would have happened. However there was no changing the past, he had to keep living his life and right now that meant a long, sleepless night of guilt and memories.

- - - - -

As they stepped off the elevator Duo made a beeline for the break room and his morning gallon or so of coffee leaving Heero to make his way to his office. While he had grown accustomed to a cup or four every morning there was no need for him to go the break room for it. Sure enough, just was he was approaching his door, so was Francheska; each of her hands clenched around a steaming paper cup and several folders stuffed under her arms.

Heero held the door open for her so she could set down the two cups on her desk; his containing nothing but dark colored liquid, the other with enough cream and sugar in it that Heero wasn't sure that it counted as coffee anymore.

He threw his bag behind his desk and turned back to where she was standing. She beamed back at him in that way that meant she was going to tell him something he didn't want to hear.

"Well, good morning Agent Yuy. How are you doing this fine day?" Francheska had a barely distinguishable French accent that made her already sweet voice that much worse.

Heero only responded with a very dry and slightly exasperated "Good morning, Francheska." Before reaching for the files she had placed on his desk.

She ignored the tone in his voice and kept talking, "Do you happen to know a joke about lawyers and dentists? I can't remember what it is, I've been working on it all morning."

Heero looked to where she was standing with a slightly concerned expression, "You've been working on other things too, right?"

She just grinned at her achievement of finally having gotten his attention. "Commander Une left a message this morning, you're meeting with her in Conference Room 12 in about 15 minutes."

Heero glanced up having almost completely forgotten about that meeting, "Did she say why?"

The girl just gave an apologetic looking shrug and took a sip of her coffee. Francheska Biddle was one of the more unique looking people Heero had ever happened upon. She was average height, with very pale skin, white blond hair that hung down her back in a mass of curls and ringlets, and striking light purple-ish colored eyes. Upon first meeting her, Heero's initial though was that she might have Lupus, however once he received her personnel file he discovered that she actually had one of the more mild forms albinism.

All agents who worked in the top positions in their department were assigned a third-class officer as an intern. These officers were generally people straight out of the academy with aspirations to one day pass the Agent's Exam. Francheska had been with him for over a year and a half now and he had to admit as far as interns went, he definitely was fortunate considering what some of his colleagues were stuck with. At the same time her assignment to him could not all be chalked up to the luck of the draw; he had known Francheska for over four years; before joining the Preventers Bureau and going through the Academy, Francheska had been on Relena's staff as her Personal Aide.

While Une would not admit to it, Heero knew that she had Francheska assigned to him intentionally. When Relena had vanished the girl took it harder than most on her staff. She helped in the investigation any way she could and would call Heero on daily basis for months. Eventually she had stopped though, and he did not hear from her again until she had been assigned to his command in January of AC121.

Heero didn't care what her background was as long as she could do her job, and she had indeed proven to be one of the best of her class. Even when she had been working for Relena, Francheska's computer hacking skills had been impressive, now at twenty years old she had the makings of one of the best Preventers could ask for.

They had a good working relationship; she was always on top of things, ready with whatever he needed and a step or two ahead of everyone else in the department. She had adjusted well to her job . . . the same could not be said of all their interns. Wufei was already on his second after having run the last so ragged he switched departments. Duo's, on the other hand, (a young man of 19, with a bit of a nervous disposition named James Edison) was holding up well considering he worked for Duo, who's favorite past time was to come up with every possible way to utilize him regardless of how absurd the task may be.

"Did you finish check the code for the new firewall?"

The light-haired woman smiled and produced a small data stick from her pocket, which she tossed to him. "I think I got most of the bugs out, but I'm sure you'll find a few."

"Hn."

"Right then, I'm off. I'll be at my desk should you need me." She waved as she spun on her heels and marched out the door. Heero only nodded to her as she left. He began reading the flies in front of him again when there was a tapping sound on the door and Duo entered the room.

"Hey buddy, meeting time, let's go."

Heero glanced down at his watch and stifled a groan before typing a few quick commands into the computer in front of him.

"So, did you get that e-mail Tony sent all of us yesterday?"

Again Heero tried not groan, "The one about how aliens have been making contact with the planet for years and the Alliance was covering it up?"

"Yeah, that one."

Heero stood and followed Duo out of his office and down the hall towards the conference room where they would be meeting, Duo chattering all the way.

"All I'm saying is that it's possible right?"

"Hn."

"I mean if we're flying around space and going to other planets and stuff, it's reasonable to think that some other . . . things could be too."

"Hn."

"And if they are, then they'd probably find us right? We're getting pretty hard to miss - " Duo stopped mid-sentence as he pushed open the conference room door to find:

"Trowa?!" A huge grin cracked Duo's face as he strode to the other side of the table to greet the taller man.

Trowa silently stood from his seat and extended his hand to Duo only to be pulled into a rough (and of course very masculine) hug.

The two stepped back from each other and both gave each other a once over. "Man, I didn't know if we were going to see you after everything last night. So how the hell are you buddy?! You never call, you never write." Duo feigned a hurt expression.

"Not much to say." Trowa responded with the tiniest hint of a smile. He turned to Heero, still standing by the door and nodded to him. "Heero."

"Trowa."

Heero looked his friend over from head to toe; he had definitely gotten tanner, but he supposed that living on the equator could do that to a person. After Josef had made himself known again, Trowa and Elizabeth had been reassigned to South America to try and begin dealing with the situation there. In the aftermath of the Echidna Epidemic and everything that came after it, South America had been left in ruins.

Most of the continent was, for all intents and purposes, a no man's land. Roughly seventy percent of the people living there had died in the epidemic; of the thirty percent that had survived, those with families left as soon as the quarantine was lifted. The entire continent had been overrun by drug cartels, smugglers, and arms dealers. Preventers and L-10 were doing everything in their power to try and restore order, but they had so much land to cover. The situation became even more complicated when Josef began buying most of his weapons from the Amazon Network there.

Trowa and Elizabeth were part of the team that was sent to infiltrate these highly secretive groups, gather as much information on them as they could, and get it safely back to Brussels where Yalta would use it to determine how best to strike against them. It was a very slow process, one that would likely take them years.

For a moment none of them spoke until Duo could no longer take the silence nor contain his curiosity. "So when did you get back? What have you been doing? We saw Liz like two months ago; she said you got stuck in the Amazon and this tribe found you and made you a king or something."

"A god, actually."

"Oh?"

"I'm the only outsider to have ever witnessed the annual Solstice Sacrificial Rights of the Nambikwara tribe of the Amazon. I was almost a victim myself, until they changed their minds and made me that year's Supporter of the World."

Duo looked almost jealous. "And how'd you get them to do that?"

"I showed them my laptop, they became convinced that I had the power to make the God's writing appear at will. More importantly I could predict the next day's weather."

"Isn't it like hot and rainy there all the time?"

"Yeah, it wasn't that hard."

Heero took a seat and the other two followed suit, Duo still talking, "So how's Cathy?"

Trowa's eyes softened at the mention of his sister. "She's doing better, her Doctor wants to start her on a new treatment. He says she's very close to being in remission but he still wants to keep her at the treatment facility so I'll be taking her back to the Sanq Kingdom tomorrow."

Duo smiled in a sad sort of way. "Well, next time we're up there, I'll make sure to stop and see her."

Heero nodded in agreement. Catherine and her circus had had the misfortune of being in Sydney on April 8th last year when members of Ajani sabotaged one of the city's nuclear power plants. A total melt down had been narrowly avoided but large amounts of radioactive smoke and fumes had spewed out of the burning facility and Catherine had been among the thousands that developed thyroid cancer in the months that followed. Her doctors were optimistic, but that did little to comfort her brother.

The door opened again and Sally entered followed by Wufei, Une, who set her briefcase down on the table and took a seat; everyone else followed suit. "We have a very limited amount of time this morning so let's get right to it. As I'm sure you've all noticed Agent Barton has returned from his assignment for a short while. Trowa, would you please brief us on your most recent activities and then we'll explain why you're here."

Trowa extracted a small data stick from his coat pocket and tossed it to Sally who was sitting next to the projection unit. She plugged it into the side and the screen at the end of the table instantly lit up to display a map of northern South America. Sally in turn slid a laser pointer and a small remote down the long polished table both of which skidded to a stop in front of Trowa. He picked up the laser pointer and directed it at the screen.

"At this point everything north of Panama is, for all intents and purposes, secure. We've managed to use the Canal as a line of demarcation. The Preventers and L-10 base has been established on the northern side of the canal and patrols have been deployed to cover fifty miles out into the ocean on either side. That coupled with our air surveillance and radar tracking is making near impossible for small crafts to get north of the line undetected."

"What about the larger crafts?" Heero interrupted.

"Those for the most part, we're not concerned about. The smugglers and arms dealers operate in small groups so as not to draw attention to themselves. It means that they can't use larger equipment and transport, but it also makes them very difficult to deal with."

"Which is why we're here." Une jumped into the conversation. "Agents Yuy, Maxell, and Chang: you are all being deployed to Agent Barton's unit for a period of three months." She reached across the table, took the remote, and clicked it at the screen. The image changed to grainy pictures of three different men. "These are Charles Ghent, Phillip Bruges, and Jonathan Asturias. All are members of the Xiuhcoatl Gang within the Amazon Network, the first is a smuggler, the other two both arms dealers; all three must be terminated as quickly as possible."

She nodded to Trowa who began talking again. "Ghent, Bruges, and Asturias have all been supplying weapons to Josef and his forces, recently they've greatly stepped up their efforts."

Duo half-heartedly raised his hand, "Hang on, I thought that Xiuhcoatl was the group Liz is infiltrating."

"It was, however Ferdinand Anna and his group, Eztli, we found to have closer ties to Josef. Because the two groups are rivals in a sense, she was able to earn Anna's trust easily by betraying Xiuhcoatl to them." The light of comprehension dawned on Duo's face and Trowa continued. "These three men have become too powerful and are beginning to dominate the region. In order for any of our operations to be successful we must keep the cartels, smugglers, and arms dealers at odds with each other. If a gang that is allied with Josef were to gain complete control over even a region of the continent, Josef would quickly have a strong foothold in South America and could begin an effort to push north."

Those gathered silently nodded as Une extracted three thick folders from her briefcase and placed them in the center of the table; Wufei, Heero, and Duo each reached for one. "The three of you and Agent Barton, will be given the mission of carrying out the assassination of these three men. I'm giving you approximately one month to plan and execute each operation." She stood and walked over the screen, "Gentlemen, I cannot express enough to you how important it is that all three be killed quickly and quietly and without implicating the involvement of Preventers. We are fortunate that these men have enough enemies that any number of people could want them dead."

Une stopped talking and turned back to face the group. "Everything is laid out in the case files in front of you. Agent Barton will be departing for the Sanq Kingdom tomorrow and Panama from there, you three will follow him in four days. In the meantime," she gestured to Sally, "you'll all need various vaccinations before you leave. Needless to say that this mission is completely classified, no one is to have anyway to even try and figure out where you are going and what you are doing there. That being the case, Sally, I'm going to need you to falsify their medical records. As far as their charts should show, Agents Chang, Maxwell, and Yuy all went for a check-up after complaining of a stomach problem, you're tests will show that they came down with a serious case of food poisoning after eating something while out to dinner together. I'll then report that you've been given an assignment in Africa for which you left immediately."

"You could just say that it was from the cafeteria, no one would question that." Duo seemed to think that everyone present should be impressed with his suggestion.

Une just waved her hand dismissively and looked to Sally, "Whatever, just make sure they get the shots they have to, the last thing I need right now is the three of you to die from malaria – "

"Wait, shots?!" The braided man sounded startled to say the least.

Wufei rolled his eyes, "That's how they give vaccinations Maxwell."

Clearly not getting any sympathy from that end Duo looked frantically toward Heero who was too busy flipping through the case file to even meet his eyes. Turning to his last resort he put on the saddest face he could muster, "Sally, isn't there like some way that doesn't involve a needle."

She stared back at him trying to comprehend what the younger man was saying, "Duo, are you really afraid of needles?"

"Of course I am!" Heero finally looked up at the sound of Duo's outburst; he had flung his chair back and was standing opposite Sally, leaning toward her as though it would get his point across better. "Who the hell wants a hollow little piece of metal shoved into one of their . . . v-veins . . . and . . ."

All present watched in awe as one of the famed Gundam pilots began to pale the tiniest bit and sat back down in his chair looking slightly dazed.

After a moment of staring those present stood to gather their things and leave. Une continued shuffling the papers in front of her and pushed them back into her briefcase. As she was about to close it however, the one on top caught her attention. "Oh yes, I meant to remind all of you to make sure that you have all of your regular duties taken care of for the next three months."

Wufei and Heero nodded, Duo sort of grunted. "That means, Agent Yuy," Une continued, "that you'll have to get your service time in before you leave."

For once Heero looked confused. "I gave blood at the Medical Division last month." he simply stated, Duo softly groaned from his chair.

Une's eyes did not leave the paper in front of her. "Yes and that's all very well and good but that doesn't fulfill your community service requirement for the year and since you may not be back until January, I want you deal with it before hand."

Heero was incredulous, she seriously couldn't be making a fuss over something so silly as the community service hours. Une seemed to be able to read him mind.

"Agent Yuy, all officers and agents are required to put in a certain number of hours of service to the general public; you are no exception to this."

"Commander, I won't have time in the next four days – "

"Well, you're in luck Yuy." He didn't like the malicious glint in her eyes. "I've arranged for you to do a classroom visit at the Royal Academy of the Sanq Kingdom before you leave."

She tried not to laugh as his eyes narrowed. "Isn't that something the officers are usually assigned?"

"Well yes, however as you know the Sanq Kingdom's Royal Academy is attended by many of the ESUN representatives children. Their parents are naturally very concerned for their children's safety and so I usually arrange to have an agent sent there for the Preventer's in the Classroom program."

Heero kept looking at her as though he were waiting for her to shout 'April Fools!' She could not smirk that played on her lips due to the expression on his face.

"Don't worry about it buddy." the color had returned to Duo's face and he rose from his seat to drape an arm around Heero's shoulders and start guiding him towards the door. Heero seemed too stunned to object to Duo's ordinarily unwanted contact. "I did like, I don't know six months ago, it's easy. The trick is to make sure you bring candy with you, you give 'em chocolate, you're golden."

Their voices trailed off as they made their way down the hall in the direction of their offices. Une shook her head, "Agent Barton, if you'll follow me I'll arrange for transport to have you and your sister in the Sanq Kingdom in the next five hours."

Trowa stood from his seat and nodded to Wufei and Sally before following her out the door. Sally watched him leave and couldn't help but feel a wave of depression wash over her; Wufei had just gotten back and now he would be leaving again for three months. Sighing she turned to begin packing up the computer equipment when she registered the lingering presence of another person in the room. Turning around she was met with the solemn and somewhat anxious looking face of Wufei. He was staring at the floor in front of him and seemed to be mumbling to himself. "Wufei, is something wrong?"

He lifted his head up in a startled manner and tried to look calm. "No, no . . . I well," he took a few steps toward her, "I'm going to be gone for three months this time after just being gone for almost a month, I suppose - "

Sally closed the distance between them and slid her arms around his waist. "I know, I'm going to miss you."

He returned the embrace, awkwardly at first his seemingly nervous state still getting the better of him. "Yes, well I know that I have been gone for longer periods of time, but um . . . well" his speech was suddenly becoming quicker and Sally could feel his heart pounding in his chest. She pulled back slightly.

"Wufei, are you alright? You seem very nervous. What's going on?" Her voice was mix between concern and annoyance; of course she was worried there was a problem, but also getting mad that he wouldn't just say what it was.

"Well yes, I am a little worried."

Sally tried to keep herself from looking too surprised, Wufei Chang would never admit he was worried about anything. Now she knew that something was wrong. "About what?"

He took a step back from her and suddenly refused to meet her eyes. "Well, I suppose about you. I'm going to be gone for a considerable amount of time and I don't like just leaving you - "

For a moment she was touched. "Wufei, that's sweet, but really, you know that everything will be fine. I worry about you too when one of us is away, but - "

"Yes, but when I'm gone you're left here completely alone." he responded trying to keep his voice even.

Sally wrinkled her brow, she wasn't quite sure what he meant or why he seemed so worked up. "I'm not completely al - "

"I mean that you're here without a man in your life and - "

"And why exactly do I need a man in my life Wufei?!" Her temper flared and her voice rose; both registered with Wufei who suddenly began tripping over his words as he tried to cover his ass.

"I – I, that is, I know you – . . . what I mean is that when I'm gone it's as though I'm not here, and things could happen to you – "

"What do you think could happen to me that I could not take care of?!" She was yelling now and advancing upon him in a menacing way.

Wufei began taking steps backwards; his voice got louder as he tried to match hers without sounding angry, or afraid for that matter. "You're a woman, by yourself, and there are men out there who are not like me, they don't want to protect you - "

She was slowly backing him against the full length glass door behind them. "And what the hell makes you think that I need to be protected by you?!"

"No, I- I mean that y-you're a woman - "

"Yes, Wufei you're made that very clear over the years. Now what the hell does that have to do with anything?!"

"That y-you should have a man who is devoted to - to you and understands how what you need and your sensitivities about - " Wufei stopped mid-sentence having realized what he was saying, but it was too late to take it back.

"What the hell does that mean?! That I'm touchy and hormonal?!" If looks could kill there wouldn't be enough left of Wufei to bury.

"N-no! I mean that - "

Wufei never finished his sentence as he was cut off when Sally reached for the chair to their left.

- - - - -

Duo flopped himself down into one of the seats facing Heero's desk. He sat on the other side reading over the orders Une had just given them. "So, South America huh? Should be a good time."

"Hn."

Duo grinned and sat forward in his seat; so they were going to play this game again. "The place is a virtual war-zone ya know, pretty scary stuff."

"Hn."

"Rains all the time too, I hear. Lots of thunderstorms and all kinds of crazy lightening, you know how scared all those things makes me."

"Hn."

"So I might need someone to keep me company at night. Hilde won't be there, so I guess it's going to have to be you."

"Hn – wait, what?" Heero finally looked up from his desk and Duo broke down into laughter upon seeing the expression etched across his features.

"Man, that was almost too easy, you gotta start paying attention when I talk."

He looked back down at the papers in front of him, "I'll start paying attention when you start saying things that are worth listening to."

Duo opened his mouth with the intention of uttering an indignant comment but was interrupted by a knock at the door, the source of which was one Officer James Edison.

"Umm, Agent Yuy, Agent Maxwell, umm please excuse me Sirs. Commander Une sent these forms over - "

Duo turned around and took the papers from young man tossing one set to Heero. "Hey thanks Jimmy. Have a seat I was just explaining to Heero here how he needs to start listening to me more."

"Oh, I, umm okay - " As James stepped through the door he jumped nearly a foot in the air at the sound of glass breaking and a loud crash following it.

Duo and Heero both whipped their heads towards the door. "What the hell . . ." the former began to say as muffled yelling emanated from down the hall.

For a moment the three of them sat in silence, straining to listen to the sound of the two screaming voices which were occasionally punctuated by a slamming or bashing noise. Their thoughts were disrupted by the arrival of Anthony, who threw the upper half of his body through the door. "Hey guys, come quick! Wufei's getting his ass kicked by Sally!"

Anthony disappeared out the door again and Duo sprung from his seat, "Jimmy, get the popcorn!" He practically knocked the younger man over as he bolted out of the office.

The James looked back towards Heero as if waiting for instructions. The Preventers agent sat still for a moment before shrugging and standing to follow Duo out the door.

Heero made his way down the hall, the screaming and banging getting louder as he approached. The scene he came upon could only be described as comical because it was not him on the receiving end.

Wufei was huddled against the wall opposite the shattered glass doors of the conference room they had occupied not ten minutes ago. His arms were above his head in a defensive position as Sally circled him brandishing a piece of wood that looked like it may have once been a chair leg. A small crowd had formed in a semi-circle around the couple; most watched with a mix of sympathy and terror, a few looked as though they were mulling over whether or not to interfere, Duo pulled up chair from a nearby desk and straddled the back of it as he started eating a bag of M&Ms. Heero turned his attention back to the main attraction where Sally continued to yell and swing the chair leg into Wufei's back and shoulders.

"I have had it up to here with all of your chauvinistic crap! Why I put up with such a self-righteous, self-important, overbearing pig like you is beyond my ability to comprehend!"

"Wom- Ow!" Wufei had tried to stand and was quickly knocked back to the ground, "Sally, would you just listen to me?!"

"I'm tired of listening to you! Listening you tell me I need to be protected by you."

"No, I don't – "

"I need to be careful!"

"Sally, I just wanted - "

"I need a man in my life!"

Wufei suddenly leapt to his feet and Sally cracked him directly over the head with the piece of wood. He staggered back into the wall, a trickle of blood running down his cheek. She took a step to go in for more, but his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. He put his other hand against her shoulder and pushed her backwards.

Sally stumbled over what was probably pieces of the chair she had turned into a weapon and fell flat on her butt. She tightened her grip on the polished wood in her hand and was about to stand again when a small, fuzzy, square, black object hit her right between the eyes. She picked it up and readied to launch it, whatever it was, back at the man in front of her. "You're throwing things at me now?!"

"Damn it woman! I'm trying to ask you to marry me!"

Without a word the chair leg fell harmlessly from her hand. The expression on her face was one of confusion and awe. She spoke in a soft and hesitant voice, "Y-you want to marry me?"

Wufei wiped some of the blood away from his eye. "Well, I'm having second thoughts now." he quipped dryly. She drew in a sharp breath and looked to the floor on her right. It would be well worth it to pay her back, but Wufei chose to take pity on her. Rolling his eyes, he continued "Yes, I want to marry you."

Her eyes immediately rose to meet his and without warning she threw herself against him; Wufei's arms came up to steady them both as she pressed her lips against his.

No one dared to move or speak; many were trying to determine whether or not they had imagined the scene which just took place. Sally and Wufei pulled apart as she opened the black box that had been thrown at her. The ring inside was simple but perfect; she flung her arms around his neck again and the room fell quiet once more.

Duo looked around in a perplexed sort of way. "So . . . that's a 'yes' then?"


	8. Jetlag

And here's Chapter Eight of Occam's Razor; there's a bit more of a lighter tone to this one (but enjoy it while you can). This is very much a 'setting the scene' chapter for what's to come which we will be diving right into next time. On just a side note, to those who have been wondering if we'll hear more about any number of particular events: Yes, definitely. Everything that has been mentioned will be fully explained by the time we're done. Thank you so much for all the reviews, I'm glad that everyone's enjoying this story and I promise that soon you'll know what's been going on here.

Occam's Razor

Chapter Eight - Jetlag

Tynan

The plane they were in jumped a bit jostling Duo from his sleep. Wearily he looked around trying to remember where he was. Heero sat on the long metal bench opposite him, his typing having not been interrupted by the turbulence. Wufei was perched next to him reading some brightly colored pamphlet. Outside of the windows behind the two young men, the sun was just beginning to rise over the North Sea. Duo groaned and rolled over on to his makeshift pillow again; all three of them had been up since 2:30 this morning and as far as Duo was concerned unless there was alcohol involved no one should be awake that early.

After a few minutes of lying perfectly still with his eyes clamped shut he realized the effort was futile and sat up. Heero seemed to have just noticed that he had woken up but said nothing only casting him a quick glance, Wufei didn't even look up.

"So are we there yet?"

The Chinese man threw him an exasperated expression and Duo smiled to himself; it really was almost **too** easy to get a rise out of Wufei. "So you never told us what happened in China, man."

Wufei straightened in his seat, "Nothing really, the trip was almost a complete waste of time."

"You were gone for a month and didn't manage to accomplish anything." Heero's voice was calm but sounded a little skeptical.

"I didn't learn anything we didn't already know." Wufei huffed, clearly offended by the insinuation. "What I meant was that I wasn't able to accomplish the objectives what I had planned to on this trip." He stopped there, as though he might continue but didn't.

"And they were . . . ?" Duo wasn't sure if Wufei would tell them, but hey it was worth a shot.

To his surprise however, he sighed and quietly said "I was supposed to meet with Okimi this time."

Duo's eyes got wide. "You were gonna meet with, . . . like actually meet the guy?"

"And why didn't you? Did they change their minds?"

"No, I when they took me to the rendezvous point some of Okimi's, I don't know I guess they were advisors, were there. They said Okimi got called away and that they'd try and again next time."

"Called away to where?"

"Do you really think that they'd tell me that Maxwell?"

"Well I don't know, I mean they're letting you meet him aren't they?" Duo put his arms behind his head and leaned back. "You're the one who keeps saying how important the guy is and they're all protective and secretive of him."

"Important yes, but I get the impression he hardly needs to be protected." Heero chimed in.

"From what I've seen, Okimi is well guarded and rightfully so."

"So are they this bad with the other six Nanami or is it just him?" Duo stumbled a bit over the name given to the seven leaders of Keiji.

Wufei did not respond right away, as though mulling over whether this information was safe to divulge. "I honestly couldn't say, my meetings with Oshito and Oinari were much less complicated but those two do not seem to be as, well involved."

"Well yeah, they're the two overseeing Australia and Antarctica right? There's not a lot to be in charge of there. This Okimi guy's the one running the show in Europe though right? Man's probably got a lot more on his plate than the other two."

The other man only nodded and turned his attention back to the pamphlet he was holding.

"So whatcha reading there?"

Wufei seemed startled and turned the faintest shade of pink. "Nothing, it's something . . .", the rest of his sentence was mumbled into the bag under his chair as he quickly began stuffing the bright piece of paper into it.

Duo's face broke into a grin having being presented with a challenge of sorts, even Heero stopped typing for a minute and was eyeing Wufei curiously. "'Nothing' huh?"

Without another word let alone a warning Duo dove from his seat and snatched the duffle bag from under Wufei's bench and quickly dashed to the front of the empty plane, extracting the literature in question as he went.

Wufei was already on his feet to go after him, but by that time it was too late. Duo had skidded into the vacant arms locker at the end of the aircraft and slammed the wire mesh door behind him. Wufei dashed up to the makeshift safe house and began pulling on the locked door but Duo was already reading from the booklet: "The Chapel of Eternal Love?!"

"Maxwell give that back - "

The braided man ignored him and kept going, "Proclaim your love for your one and only in our beautifully refurbished chapel. Seating for up to 500 hundred of your closest friends and family . . ." Duo trailed off as he broke into a fit of laughter. "Wow, you two have only been engaged like 72 hours and she's already dragging you to the 'Chapel of Love'."

Wufei slouched against the wall, a look of pure venom being cast in his friend's direction. "It was Sally's friend's suggestion. Sally just wanted me to take a look at it, she really seems to like - "

"Of course she likes it, look at the place man!" Duo waved the pamphlet in front of Wufei, "It's all flowery and pink, they've probably got doves that they release or something."

Both men paused as the distinct sound of a quiet snicker came from where Heero was seated. At this Duo began to break down into laughter again and half fell, half sat on the floor, "Man, I bet she's gonna put you in some powder pink tux and have one of those old carriages take you to the place - "

"Oh shut-up Maxwell! At least when I proposed to my girlfriend we actually started planning a wedding! After two years Hilde must be starting to look for someone else who will actually marry her!"

"Hey!" He jumped to his feet indignantly, "Hilde's the one who keeps wanting to wait! I've been trying to get her to Vegas forever!"

Wufei smirked at him and turned to go back to his bench. "So she is just waiting for something better to come along?"

"Why you!" Duo lunged at the door but stopped just in time, it was locked and . . .

Wufei turned back to face him, the key dangling from one finger.

"Hey, give that back! I swear Wufei, I'll - "

"Do what? Scold me?"

Duo sputtered and threw himself across the grating looking imploringly to the back of the plane, "Hey, Heero buddy - "

"No."

- - - - -

Lucrezia Noin watched from her car as the small military craft taxied up to where she was waiting. It had barely come to a stop when the side door opened and two men, each carrying a standard issue green duffle bag, got out and began to descend the stairs that were quickly placed under where they stepped off.

"Guys over here!" Noin waved her arm and the two young men in question quickly spotted her. She smiled as she approached them, they in turned looked, well not unhappy to see her. "How was your flight?"

Wufei cast her a serene sort of smile, "Quiet once we worked a more comfortable seating arrangement out."

Noin only nodded in confusion deciding that it was better not to ask. "Right, well Heero there's a car waiting for you in the motor pool; Une said you had something you had to take care of before you left."

It could have been her imagination but she was pretty sure that Heero actually rolled his eyes and grumbled a bit as he shouldered his bag and headed off in the direction she had indicated. She turned back to Wufei. "I'll be taking you up to the palace, Sally and Une should be there by now, they'll to give you your physicals and brief you one more time before you head out."

Wufei lifted his bag and walked the short distance to where Noin's car was. She, however did not follow. but looked around in a way that suggested she felt something was out of place. Then it clicked.

"Hey, aren't you guys missing someone?"

- - - - -

Heero waited for the woman seated on the other side of the desk in front of him to hand him back his ID badge before writing his name on the sign-in sheet. He looked down at the name plaque, 'Mrs. Sandra D. Bokker - Head Mistress'. She was a thin, older woman, probably in her sixties. She was scanning a computer screen now looking for his name, when she found it she gave a slight chuckle that he found somewhat disconcerting. "Miss Frankum's class, eh?"

Heero shrugged at her in an nonchalant sort of way, the woman just laughed again. "Well it's only for half an hour, just be on your guard around her."

His curiosity got the better of him. "And why is that?"

Mrs. Bokker leaned back in her chair, a twisted sort of smile playing upon her features. "Denise is a nice woman, good with the kids, but well, she's lonely. And let's just say that being young, tall, dark, and handsome, well that pretty much makes you her type." She leaned across the desk and lowered her voice, "Between you and me, she can get a bit, er grabby."

Heero nodded in the most professional way he could, the woman seated across from him was clearly enjoying this. She tore a piece of paper out of her notebook and handed it to him. "Best of luck, Agent Yuy. And thank you in advance. I truly appreciate this program Commander Une has set up. So many of the children here have parents in ESUN and they are, naturally very concerned for their safety. It certainly helps me to reassure them when they see agents of your caliber and reputation taking the time to visit our school and speak to the students."

Heero wasn't sure what to say and again found himself nodding dumbly in her direction. As he closed the office door behind him, he glanced down at the little slip of paper Mrs. Bokker had given him; it read "Miss Denise Frankum - First Grade, Room 114". Heero looked around before spotting a sign pointing him in the right direction and began making his way down one of the many colorful halls. He quickly found the room in question and unsure of what else to do knocked on the door.

At first there was no answer and after checking the room number a second time he was about to knock again when the door opened and revealed a short, rather frazzled and thin looking woman in her late twenties, with bushy reddish hair, wearing lop-sided glasses and a long green dress. He did not miss her taking a second to look him up and down before smiling at him and stepping aside to allow him entrance. "You must be Agent Yuy! My my! Well, we've all been very excited for your visit . . ."

Heero stopped listening to her as he entered the classroom and immediately switched to battle mode. He had to admit that aside from his stop off a the first grocery store he found after leaving the airport, he had come somewhat unprepared; not having spent much time around children he knew very little about his opponents. All the data he could gather from both his sources and his own limited encounters indicated that they were impatient with very short attention spans. They had been known to strike suddenly and without warning and were prone to emotional outbursts should something displeased them. They also had a reputation for being dirty, often times sticky; this made it essential to keep a safe distance.

Miss Frankum continued to talk in her high-pitched dreamy voice as she led him to the front of the classroom. In front of them were 25 desks, each with a child of about 6 seated behind it, all clad in the same scarlet colored blazer or dress ensemble. Mentally he noted that all of them were easily within his line of sight; aside from that Miss Frankum would be watching them as well, though given his past ninety seconds with the woman . . .

"Class, class! Children, this is Agent Yuy - Sammy stop poking Sarah!" There was a faint whimper from somewhere in the back. "This is Agent Yuy, he works for the Preventers Bureau. Now, can anyone remember what the Preventers do?"

Several tiny hands shot up in the air and Miss Frankum pointed to one of them. A small girl with wispy blond hair stood from her seat, "The Preventers make sure that no one tries to hurt anyone else and that if they do they stop them and they help people." As she sat down again Heero could not shake the notion that she looked vaguely familiar.

"Good Ashley. Alright, now I want everyone to be very quiet and pay close attention to Agent Yuy, he's going to tell us a little more about what he does and then you'll be able to ask him some questions." She smiled again in his direction, her gaze lingering maybe a little too long for his comfort. Heero quickly moved to where she had been standing as Miss Frankum went to the back of the classroom and sat at her desk.

Fifty eyes stared back at him, some with intense interest, some clearly a little afraid. He paused for a second before speaking unsure of how to start. "My name is Heero Yuy, I've been with Preventers for almost six years now. I'm stationed our global head quarters in Brussels. I work in the Security and Intelligence Department but also with Special Operations and Cyber-Counterintelligence. My job primarily consists of - "

One of the little boys in the back raised his hand, he did not wait for acknowledgment before speaking, "Are you a spy?"

"Sammy, wait until Agent Yuy is done speaking before asking questions." Miss Frankum looked more exasperated than angry.

The little boy settled back into his seat with a disgruntled look on his face. Heero continued, "I work with a team of about four other officers; we have several tasks within the Preventers Bureau. One of our primary responsibilities is intelligence. Using data and information we collect, my team works to find and arrest or terminate members of terrorist organizations planning to attack - "

There was a sharp sound of a chair quickly being pushed back as Miss Frankum stood in an abrupt sort of manner. "Well! Maybe now would be a good time for some questions after all! I'll go first!" She paused for a moment and tapped her finger on her desk in an over exaggerated sort of way, "What's your favorite color Agent Yuy?"

Heero could not help the expression on his face; he was confused as to why she interrupted him in the first place but what did his favorite color have to do with anything? Not having any particular affection for a certain color he shrugged in as polite a manner as his could and said the first thing that came to mind, "Blue . . ."

To his horror Miss Frankum's smile broadened, and her eyes got a sort of soft, dreamy look in them, "Oh, just like your eyes . . ."

Heero distinctly heard two of the girls in the front giggle, he was getting very uncomfortable. He glanced down at his watch; he had only been here for about five minutes and Miss Frankum looked as though she was going to continue with her questions and he couldn't tell her what his sign was if he wanted to. Just as she was about to open her mouth again he spun around to face the class.**"Questions?" It was more of a demand than a request.****  
**  
At first none of the children spoke until that boy from the back, Sammy his name was, yelled out "So are you a spy or not?!"

Heero crinkled his eyebrows, "No, I'm not a spy."

Sammy again looked disgruntled, crossed his arms over his chest, and began pouting. The room fell silent again and Heero began to see Miss Frankum looking as though she would be more than happy to end the quiet. "Are there any other questions?"

After a moment another little boy, in the front this time, slowly raised his hand. Heero nodded to him and the little boy straightened up in his chair before asking, "Is that a real gun?" He pointed to where Heero's jacket hung open barely revealing the weapon concealed in his shoulder holster.

"Yes."

The boy nodded, "Have you ever killed anybody before?"

"Yes."

There was a sharp gasp from many of the children seated there and a strangled sounding sort of noise from where Miss Frankum sat. All of the children looked either terrified or fascinated; none of them spoke until Sammy stood from his seat again with his hand raised high above his head. Heero apprehensively looked in his direction. "Yes?"

"My brother said that there's a place on people's head that if you shoot them there their whole head will explode."

Heero kept his face calm, ". . . We're getting off the subject."

Another boy raised his hand very politely, Heero pointed to him. "So if you live in Brussels why are you in the Sanq Kingdom?"

He was taken aback by the perceptiveness of the child. "I have an assignment here."

"Like a spy mission?!"

"Sammy, he said he's not a spy!" The girl he had been poking, Sarah, shot him a scared look.

"Well he wouldn't tell us if he was one, stupid." There was a cracking noise and air suddenly was filled with crying.

"Miss Frankum!"

"Sammy we don't say 'stupid', Sarah stop crying."

The little girl seated on the other side of Sammy stood from her seat to look at Sarah before quickly recoiling with a squeal. "Miss Frankum, Sarah's bleeding again."

Heero tried not to look surprised at how Miss Frankum calmly rose from her seat and went to where the Sarah was now quietly sobbing into her hand while Sammy tried to pry them away from her face to get a look.

**"All I did was throw my pencil, Miss Frankum!"**

The older woman knelt down in front of the crying girl before taking her hand and leading her towards the door. Heero stood frozen for a minute; she couldn't possibly be leaving could she? As though reading his mind she turned back to him, "Oh Agent Yuy, I'm so sorry. Sarah seems to have cut her head, would you please keep an eye on them while I take her to the nurse?"

Heero tried to speak but just ended up sputtering "I-I can't . . ."

She smiled back at him in that way that made him uncomfortable, "Oh I'll be back in two minutes, besides I can tell you have a natural way with children."

With that she closed the door behind her and left him to what at that moment he considered to be the most overwhelming obstacle he had ever faced: a class room full of six year olds with no adult supervision.

All of them were eyeing him warily; some of the kids in the back were giving him a look like he was the one that had hurt Sarah. As he was scanning the room he saw one of the boys had his hand patiently up in the air and nodded to him indicating it was alright to speak.

"So what are you doing in the Sanq Kingdom?"

"That's classified."

Sammy sat up straight again. "See I told you he's a spy!"

One unidentified child off to the side began getting very upset. "Is someone bad in our school?"

Heero shrugged, "The background checks here are pretty through, so no, probably not."

Sammy looked like Christmas had come early. "But there might be?"

"The chances are infinitesimally small that an enemy was able to infiltrate - "

"What are they going to do to us?!" It was more of a scream than a question from the same girl as before.

Her sudden yelling caught Heero off guard wondering why she was so worried. "No-nothing, there's no one here - "

"Are they going to kidnap us away from mommy and daddy?!" The girl's friend sitting next her now wore the same panicked expression.

"N-no, no, there isn't anyone here."

"Then why do we have guards at the door huh?" Sammy was clearly enjoying this a little too much.

"They're just there to keep you safe - "

"From people who want to come and blow this whole place up!"

"Stop it Sammy! That's not true!" The other little girl with the misfortune of being seated next to this brazen, **and most likely disturbed)** child put her hands over her ears and started to cry.

Sammy, however was not phased by this, he leaned closer to her and began yelling over her soft crying, "Ya-huh, my brother's in the Royal Guard and he said that we have to be really careful - "

"Are people going to blow up our school Mr. Preventers Agent?" A small, Asian girl seated right in front of him was looking into his eyes with an innocent and frightened expression.

He couldn't help but want to try and calm her, before getting that Sammy kid to shut-up. "No one is going to blow up your school."

"Yeah, they'll probably just come in with a gun and - "

"Sammy, stop it!" The girl next to him was starting to get very upset, but Sammy was standing on his chair and yelling to the whole classroom now and too busy to notice.

Heero looked around the room in a panic, wondering where the hell Miss Frankum had taken that girl. Several of the calmer children had now broken down into sobs as well, one of the smaller girls in the front had stood from her seat and wrapped herself around his leg, crying hysterically into the khaki fabric. Sammy was still preaching mass destruction to the class from atop his chair, several of the boys were trying to remain calm but the fact that most of the girls around them were crying wasn't helping. Heero tried to shake the child that had attached herself to his leg off, but her grip did not loosen and he thought he heard her blowing her nose on his pants. Not knowing what else to do he carried them both the two steps to where he had laid his bag, rummaged around until he found the plastic container he was looking for, and pulled it out.

"Who wants candy?"

- - - - -

The sun outside was bright as Heero made his way over to the only tree he could find on the playground and took a seat under it. Miss Frankum had returned about five minutes ago to find half of her class in hysterics and the other half covered in chocolate. To attempt to calm the chaos an early recess was called and the children had quickly forgotten the apparent doom they all thought was upon them a few short minutes ago.

Heero glanced down at his watch while he waited for his laptop to start up. He still had about 10 minutes to kill and they would have to be outside lest he be trapped alone in that classroom with Miss Frankum. By his calculations he probably had enough e-mail at this point to busy him for the remaining time then make a hasty exit.

Just as he went to look in his bag for a blank disc, the sound of someone approaching from the other side of the tree registered with him. His immediate concern was whether or not it was Denise Frankum; poking his head around the large oak he saw something he'd never thought he'd be happy to see: one of the children from the class, specifically that girl Ashley.

She came to a dead stop as soon as he spotted her; for a moment they only stared, he just couldn't figure out why she looked familiar. As he tried to push the thought out of his mind and turned back to his now humming laptop, the little girl rounded the tree and plopped herself down on the grass next to him. Slowly he tilted his head to look at her again; she was smiling shyly up at him from the ground.

After what seemed to be hours she finally spoke. "I'm not afraid of you."

The statement caught him somewhat off guard, first because of its blunt nature, second because of the source. Heero eyed the little girl curiously for a moment before slowly answering: "That's . . . good."

Her small smile widened. "Everyone else is afraid of you, they think you're scary. But I know that you're really nice."

Heero was at a loss for words completely unsure as to how this girl could know him as a "nice" person and struggling desperately to discern why he thought he knew her from somewhere. "What's your name?"

"Ashley." The girl stated quickly, "I'm Ashley Stimson, my Daddy – "

". . . Is Representative Lewis Stimson." Heero finished for her; suddenly it clicked.

Ashley was now grinning beside him, clearly thrilled that he had finally remembered her. "You helped me that day I got lost."

"Hn." Heero very clearly remembered the day several months ago when he had been walking through the court yard in front of ESUN's headquarters in New Port City when a little girl, this little girl, slowly approached him. She was in hysterics but making an attempt to keep herself calm as she explained she had lost her father when she left him to go look at the gardens. It had been a simple matter of taking the girl back inside the massive building; her father was standing the in entrance hall frantically giving his daughter's description to three of the Preventers Officers there.

"The lady told me that you weren't scary." Her voice jarred Heero from his thoughts; he'd not heard this part of the story before.

His curiosity got the better of him, "What lady?"

Ashley smiled again, obviously very happy to tell the tale to her knight in shining armor. "The lady who found me in the gardens. She saw me crying and asked if I was lost, then she pointed to you and said that you were a Preventer and you'd help me."

Heero nodded, and Ashley continued talking. "I didn't want to talk to you 'cause you looked really mean but the lady told me that you were her friend and that you weren't really mean but I still didn't want to go."

"She said I was her friend?" That stuck Heero as odd.

She bopped her head up and down enthusiastically, "Uh-huh, and she showed me a picture of you and a bunch of other people all dressed up, and she was standing next to you and there was a lady with a long braid doing this to you." Ashley raised two of her fingers behind her head making bunny ears.

Heero was growing suspicious now; he knew exactly the picture the girl was talking about. "Ashley, what did this lady look like?"

"Umm, she was really pretty. She had on one of those suites the ladies that work with Daddy wear and she had blue eyes and long blond hair that came all the way down to her butt!" Ashley stopped talking to giggle a bit.

"Anything else?"

"Umm, she had funny things right up here." She put one of her fingers just at the top of her eyebrow and traced a line above it towards the side of her head.

Heero smirked a bit; Dorothy. "And she told you to come ask me for help?"

"Yup, she – " Ashley was cut off as at that moment Miss Frankum began calling all of her students back to the classroom. She turned and began to run back with her friends, pausing for a moment to yell a goodbye back at him.

Heero waited until all the children had disappeared hoping this would keep Miss Frankum occupied. As he packed away his computer he tried to imagine Dorothy Catalonia stopping to help a lost little girl. She, of course, had acted more in character by sending Ashley Stimson to him for help rather than be seen escorting her to find her father herself.

What he found odd about the situation was the picture Ashley had been shown, odd that Dorothy would have been carrying it around with her. He knew exactly the picture she was describing, it was sitting in the only picture frame he owned; it was also the last known photograph taken of Relena Peacecraft. It had been taken three years and six days ago at the Earth Sphere Unified Nation's Annual Gala Night, that year Rome had played host.

Most of the higher ranking Preventers Agents were invited to attend and he had consented to escort Relena rather than serve in a security sense for the evening. It was the first time all of their friends had been in the same place in years. Duo, Sally, and Wufei were of course invited through the Preventers Bureau, Hilde obviously was Duo's date. Quatre and Zechs had merited invitations due to their involvement with the Terra Formation Project bringing Dorothy and Noin along with them. Commander Une was of course there and when Relena had heard that everyone would be attending she had personally called Cathy and insisted her and Trowa join them for the evening.

After the inevitable speeches and the overly elegant dinner, the dancing portion of the night rolled around. Duo had managed to gather all of "The Gundam Gang" as he called it, in one place and get a picture with Hilde's camera. She had e-mailed all of them a copy the next day.

Heero thought back to the picture that was situated on his dresser still trying to piece together what Ashley had described to him. A woman with long blond hair, blue eyes, and funny eyes brows wearing a business suit was definitely Dorothy, but she was not standing next to him in the picture. He did not even need to look back into his photographic memory to work where everyone had been standing. Relena had been on his right, distracted by Duo who was leaning between them to put his hand behind Heero's head. Directly on his left was Quatre, laughing good naturedly at Duo's antics while Dorothy glared at the braided man from next to him. Ashley must have simply confused where Dorothy was standing, technically he had been surrounded by men on both sides . . . though she had mistaken Duo and his eccentric hairdo for a woman's.

Thinking back to that night brought back memories, bad ones. It had been the last time he and Relena had actually spoken, she had disappeared two days later. There was nothing he regretted more in his life than how he had left things between them and never getting a chance to explain or apologize for what he had done.

- - - - -

_Heero scanned the area around him; she'd been gone for only about ten minutes, but of course it was in those ten minutes something would happen. He was disgruntled enough from the conversation he had been stuck in; that ESUN representative, Marley or something, had been so drunk he was convinced that Heero was his grandson. Wufei had been good enough to come try and rescue him but ended up pulled into the same conversation. _

_In all the chatter (none of which was on his end) he had lost track of Relena for the first time in memory. He had not been that worried; this was after all the annual ESUN Ball, nearly every Preventer not on duty was in attendance. That meant that technically he was not on duty either . . . not that it would have mattered either way. Beside, he reasoned, Relena had asked him to accompany her that night; true this was as her date rather than head of her security but he still felt he had to keep an eye on her. _

_And of course he had been right. Pushing his way towards the other side of the dance floor he found Relena speaking to several people Heero could only assume were colleagues of hers. She turned and smiled at him as he approached. "Oh Heero, there you are. These are - " _

_"Come with me." Without another word he gently clasped his hand around her shoulder and steered her away from the group and towards the back of the ballroom. He could not help but notice that her skin felt a little cold and clammy but chalked it up to the air-conditioning battling the sticky night air outside. She had also removed her elbow length gloves, further supporting his theory that Rome in August was just far too warm a location to host an event where all the men in attendance were required to be in tuxedoes._

_Once or twice she tried to turn to face him as if to ask what was going on, but each time he only gestured that she should be looking forward. As they pushed their way through the crowds Heero sighted their intended destination. Relena seemed to realize where they were going and what the implications were, he felt the muscles in her shoulder tighten as they came closer. _

_Off in one of the back corners stood Commander Une with several other tuxedo and ball gown-clad Preventers Agents. Each of them had at their side one of the members of the Prime Minister's Cabinet. Heero nodded to Une and took Relena to join the group of bewildered looking politicians. Une was talking into her radio, "We've got Olive Branch" Heero saw Relena roll her eyes, she hated that codename, "just waiting on - "  
_

_"Found him, Commander." Duo appeared from the crowd with Prime Minister Franz in tow and a bewildered looking Hilde being led by the arm. _

_"All members of the Cabinet are secured . Lock it down." Looking up to her agents again she ordered, "Take them up to their rooms, no one leaves until you get the okay from me personally." _

_Relena's eyes grew big as she rounded on Heero. "Heero, what's going - "_

_"I'll explain later." This time he took her by the wrist and quickly began pulling her towards the grand staircase that led to the rooms on the mansion's second and third levels where the Prime Minister and his Cabinet were guest during their stay in Rome. Just as they made it to the end of the hall and were about to ascend the second flight or stair Relena suddenly wrenched her arm out of his hand. _

_"Heero, what is happening?" Her voice was demanding yet nervous sounding. _

_Stopping to take a look at her for the first time since he'd dragged her away from her conversation; she look frazzled and a little pale. "We have to the entire mansion on lockdown, Commander Une wanted the Prime Minister and his Cabinet in a secure location." _

_"Why?"_

_"Representative Whitney was found dead in the gardens outside, a single bullet wound to the head." _

_Heero watched as Relena grew even more pale, her expression became somewhat dazed and for a moment she said nothing. Her eyes drifted to the floor for a moment before she seemed to snap out of it and finally spoke. "Michael was found . . . " _

_"Dead, someone murdered him less than twenty minutes ago." He was not sure if Relena heard him, she was back to staring at the floor in front of her, her arms crossed nervously over her chest as though she were cold. Heero gently pulled one of her hands away from her and silently led her up to the next flight of stair to her rooms. _

_Once inside he shut and locked the doors behind them and immediately went to the windows, checking the balconies then locking those doors as well. He quickly finished closing the curtains and turned to look for Relena. He found her in the next room sitting in one of the chairs next to a floor length window which afforded a spectacular view of the city. _

_"You shouldn't be sitting there."_

_She turned as though startled by his voice and cast him a small, some what sad looking smile. "I know, I'm sorry." Relena stood and gathered the lengths of her long, black dress as crossed the room towards another set of chairs. "Do you think . . . is the person that killed Representative Whitney is still here?" _

_Heero had gone over to the windows to make sure they as well were locked. "I don't know, there are people starting an investigation as we speak; they'll radio me when they have some answers." _

_For a moment the only sound was that of Heero checking the floor to ceiling pieces of glass and wood then something that sounded like a sob broke the air. Slowly, Heero turned around and looked across the room to see Relena with her head in her hands, crying softly. His initial reaction was confusion but before he even realized what he was doing he found himself kneeling in front of her chair. _

_"Relena?"_

_Again she was startled, and apparently embarrassed as she quickly turned a light shade of pink as she began dabbing her eyes with a piece of tissue. "Oh Heero, I'm sorry . . . I just - "  
_

_"What's wrong?" His voice conveyed genuine concern. In their nearly two and a half years together he had seen Relena upset before, but he had never known her to start crying over something like this. As far as he knew she didn't even really know Representative Whitney. _

_Relena did not say anything at first then suddenly what little resolve she had left seemed to crumple. Without warning she flung arms around Heero's neck and began crying into his shoulder. To say he was stunned didn't begin to describe his reaction, but again his body seemed to move of its own accord and his arms came to rest on her back and around her slim waist. He waited for her to say something but she only kept crying. Finally after a few minutes she had calmed down a bit and he pulled back to face her. _

_"Relena . . . "_

_She sniffed a bit and dried her eyes. "I'm sorry Heero. I don't know what came over me, I . . . I just can't understand why things like this still happen. Why we can't even hold a simple ball without . . ." She trailed off as her eyes began to water again, but regained her composure. "I guess I just can't help but wonder if anything that I've done - " _

_"Relena, someone killed an ESUN Representative for God knows what reason. He was murdered away from the party and the guests and they fled; it was probably personal. It's not your fault." _

_Her eyes drifted to her lap and she smiled sadly before quietly answering, "But so much is." _

_Heero was confused by the statement but got the impression it was directed more to herself than him. "Relena, you've done more for ESUN than - "  
_

_"What have I done Heero?!" Her voice was suddenly loud and she looked taken back by her own volume, when she spoke again her voice was quiet and timid sounding. "What have I done for ESUN, for the planet for that matter? Yes I've signed a few peace accords, I've set up the Terra Formation Project, I've settled a few disputes but is that what I'll be remembered for? When people look back hundreds of years from now will my name be associated with peace or with all the problems and bloodshed I've caused?" _

_Heero was somewhat taken aback, but knew what Relena was talking about. "None of that is because of you - " _

_"Isn't it? Do you think that any other person in my position in ESUN would have half the assassination attempts I do on my record? Would Mariemaia have kidnapped the Vice-Foreign Minister if it wasn't me? Would Officer Ruby still have been killed if it wasn't me she was protecting? Would the New Delhi Peace Summit have been attacked if I wasn't the one hosting it? Would you have that if it weren't for me?!" She jabbed her finger into the right side of his chest where they both new perfectly well that a long jagged scar ran beneath his clothes. _

_Her eyes started to get red again and her voice became strained. "The bombing on L-4, those lunatics who killed all the hostages they took in Mexico City because I didn't resign my post, the people attacking the convoys headed for Mars, how much of this wouldn't happen if it wasn't me? They target these places and people because they're associated with me." She was now crying again. "I just wonder if any good that I've managed to do is worth everything that has been happening . . . I'm just one person, I'm not worth all those lives." _

_Heero reached out, took her hand, and lifted her to her feet. "Relena, none of those things happened because of you. People act of their own free will, they choose to do what they do. There's nothing that you, or I, or anyone else can do to stop them." _

_"If it wasn't - "_

_"If it weren't you it would be someone else." She looked up meeting his eyes and he couldn't bring himself to break the connection. He couldn't say how it happened, all of a sudden Relena's lips were on his and he had pulled her body against his own. The minutes passed in what seemed like mere seconds and he found is arms wrapped tightly around her slim frame and her hands entangled in his mess of dark hair. Something in the back of his mind was screaming at him to stop, to think but it was overpowered by another voice urging him on. After only another minute or so he couldn't hear either of them as they were awkwardly guiding themselves towards the bedroom. _

_Heero lay awake in the darkness trying to remember the last hour or so of his life; it had all been a blur. Relena was sleeping curled against his side, he could feel her warm breath on his bare chest. He lost track of the hours as he mind raced trying to reason out what he had done, what this meant, what to do now. _

_It was only the beginning of sunrise that brought him out of his thoughts replacing them with a feeling of panic and he could feel his heart begin to race the more he considered the situation. What __**was**__ going to happen now? What would she, or he say when she woke up? Was this a mistake? He'd clearly overstepped the bounds of their friendship, but to what end? He knew Relena cared about him, he cared about her but he had always told himself that she was his friend, and only his friend; now he was unsure. He could not pretend that the thought of her as something more had wandered into his mind on more than one occasion, but he had quickly dismissed this outlandish idea as just that; something that could never happen, never should happen, never would happen._

_It was still early but he was feeling restless, confused, lost, and maybe the tiniest bit afraid. As gently as he could he slid his arm out from under Relena's sleeping form and swung his legs over the side of the bed. She stirred for a moment as he gathered his clothes from the floor but did nothing more when he quietly shut the bedroom door behind him. _

- - - - -

Heero shouldered his bag and checked to make sure all of the children had gone inside. As he made his way back towards the school he thought of those last 36 hours before Relena had vanished. When she had emerged from her rooms for breakfast she had greeted him with formal, but cold indifference for the first time since they had met; he couldn't help but notice her eyes were slightly red.

He didn't know what to say or do, especially with her staff bustling about not giving him even the opportunity to try to get her alone. He had had no idea what to say to her but felt that something had to be said, anything to attempt to make this better. As the day wore on he had watched and waited for a moment when she would not be surrounded by other people but she seemed to be going out of her way to make sure that that didn't happen.

The next day was no better and before he knew it that afternoon they were on a plane going back to Brussels, Relena was sitting towards the back with her staff going over things for tomorrow's meeting with the Prime Minister when Francheska approached him and informed him that Relena wished for the head of her Domestic Security Team to meet them at the airport and see her home. He had of course protested, he'd even tried to get Relena away from her staff to demand that she not alter her own security arrangements but she had refused to even meet his eye. In the end he had had no choice but to phone Duo and tell him to be ready to meet Relena's shuttle.

When they arrived, Wufei was the one waiting for them with the explanation that Duo was stuck on the highway having car trouble. The last time he had ever seen Relena she was stepping into her car. Their eyes met for just a second, the only thing that had registered with Heero was how sad she looked.

He had gone with his team back to head quarters but left early not being able to concentrate. On the drive home he had promised himself over and over again that he would go to Relena's home tomorrow and demand she see him, Duo would not try to stop him from entering even if she ordered him too. He had been by Relena's side for over two years and she had come to mean more to him than any other person ever had. He knew that she did not see him as nothing more than a Gundam pilot and human weapon the same way he did not see her as only a political and a mascot for peace. They had shared a deep connection and an even deeper friendship and he had not been willing to just let that slip away.

He had been staring at his laptop, trying to work for almost an hour but instead raking his brain for something, anything to explain to her the next day when the phone had rung and Duo's voice rang out from the other side. He had never gotten the chance to say all the things he hadn't come up with yet, but three years had given him plenty of time for him to think about this and what he would say for the obvious hurt he had inflicted upon her. In three years the only acceptable words that he felt he could utter were that he was sorry.

"Agent Yuy!"

Heero whirled around, lost in his thoughts he had not realized that he was absentmindedly wandering back into the classroom, an oddly quiet classroom. Looking around his worst fears were confirmed, none of the children were to be seen, the only other human (and he used that classification loosely) was Denise Frankum. "Where are all the – "

She approached him in a manner that suggested she might have thought herself to be floating. "Oh, I sent them off to lunch with one of the other classes so that I could wait for you."

"Wait for me . . ." he choked out, the lady was now violating his closely guarded boundary of personal space.

"Yes, well I felt bad for having to leave you alone with the class and then you disappeared when I came back, I realized we never got a chance to talk at all."

Heero stopped listening as he sidestepped the dreamy-eyed woman and looked around frantically for the nearest open door or window.

- - - - -

Duo tried to keep his hand from shaking as he pulled off his shirt and took a seat one of the four paper covered medical beds in the room. Opposite where he was sitting Wufei was having his blood pressure taken by his brand new fiancé who was humming to herself. For the past four days Sally had been walking on air, all but oblivious to what was going on around her.

She quickly finished with Wufei, made some notes on his chart and turned to where Duo was seated. Still humming she began to wrap the large velcro piece of fabric around his upper arm and then started squeezing the pump, not paying any attention to Duo's nervous disposition. Abruptly Sally stopped humming and looked back to the gauge attached to Duo's arm as though checking to make sure it was correct. "Duo, you're BP's through the roof."

Wufei chuckled in a cruel sort of way from across the room. "Of course it is Sally, he's got himself all worked up about getting a little shot remember?"

"Hey! I'm not all worked up! I just don't like needles! Lot's of people don't like needles!"

Wufei just continued to smirk at him as Sally took the wrap off of his arm. "It's okay Duo, I'll check it after you've calmed down."

"Yeah Sally, about that, you don't happen to have some Valium or something laying around here, do ya?"

"Oh Duo!" Her oblivious, blissful persona had apparently returned as she playfully slapped him in the arm. Across the room from him Wufei was smiling in a sinister sort of way. Duo resigned himself to having no choice but to sit there and wait for the inevitable when all of a sudden the door to examination room burst open.

"Sally! You get engaged and I don't even get a phone call?! I had to find out from Une of all people?!" Noin looked annoyed but the expression quickly melted away as Sally approached her with her left hand extended out in front of her.

"Oh my God!" Noin emitted a very uncharacteristic squeal, "Wow Wufei, you're doing alright huh?"

The Chinese man just shrugged and muttered something while Noin continued to gush. "Well that's two weddings to plan now! You two haven't set a date already have you?! Oh Sally, there's the most charming little church New Port, you have to see it!"

Sally was glowing, "A summer wedding in a place like this would be just perfect! And I loved all the flowers at yours! Do you still have the name of the - "

"Of course, of course! I still have everything from my wedding, it's all in a little binder I keep, well actually I brought it with me in case you wanted it. I think it's in the car still - "

"Lead the way!"

The door slammed shut behind them leaving a stunned Duo and Wufei in its wake. Duo looked around for a minute as though he could not believe his good luck but nearly fell off the table when the door opened yet again. He was relieved, however not to see Sally, or anyone who worked in the field of medicine for that matter, enter.

"Hey, Heero buddy! So how'd it go?

Heero looked up as though he was startled by Wufei and Duo's presence. "It was . . . odd."

The two other men exchanged confused looks. " So what took you so long, man I thought it was only supposed to be half an hour – Is that blood on you?!"

Heero paused and glanced down at the dark red substance on his collar and neck wondering how to get lipstick out of cotton but decided Duo was not the best person to ask. He sat on one of the examination tables and began taking off his jacket and boots as he spoke. "I had a bit of trouble leaving the school."

"Was someone tracking you?"

"No, someone wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."

"What does that m – "

"Where's Sally?" Heero interrupted Duo, who began to pale again at the mention of his torturer's name.

"She and Noin ran off to look at some photos or something." Wufei seemed highly disgruntled by this and Heero decided not to push the subject.

Instead he nodded and after a quick look around the room found a table with three long, and deadly looking syringes neatly lined up on a tray. "Are these ours?"

Wufei nodded and Duo slowly leaned back against the wall emitting the tiniest of groans, then almost screaming out right as Heero took one of the tourniquets from the table and began wrapping it around his upper arm.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

'We're already running late, we don't have time to wait for Sally to come back." Wufei had joined him and was now putting a tourniquet on himself as well.

"But you c-can't just . . . h-how . . ." Duo's voice faded as he hid his face behind his hands to avoid watching Heero and Wufei both slid one of the needles into their forearms. Even after he was sure that they were done he still did not remove his hands from his eyes. His next (and last) clear memory was his left arm being suddenly wrenched away from his face then held down on the exam table and a glimpse of Wufei brandishing one of the longest needles he'd ever seen.

- - - - -

Nearly ten hours after take-off the military transport plane finally touched ground on runway of the Preventer's and L-10 head quarters, just north of the Panama Canal; the Ichtaca Base. Shouldering their duffle bags, Wufei, Heero, and Duo flied out of the aircraft and down the stairs with the other officers, agents, and soldiers that had just made the trans-Atlantic flight.

Heero surveyed the area as he walked toward one of the many buildings that lined the airstrip. Most of them appeared to be airplane hangers, there were also twenty or so large helicopters lined up in an enclosed area. The airstrip seemed to be situated on top of a hill; looking off in the distance he could see the rest of the base. The base looked like a small, self-contained city. Lining what must have been the main road were several large buildings, one was clearly marked as a hospital, another had so many satellite dishes strapped to it that it could only be a communications tower, there were smaller brick buildings interspersed between the taller ones that, judging by the soldiers relaxing and playing football out side of them, served as barracks. Outside the tall wire gates that contained the airport both military vehicles and civilian cars were cruising in every direction as well as a few larger, more intimidating transport units.

The three made their way to the edge of the runway and joined the line that fed into the large canvas tent that served as a gateway to the rest of the base. Armed guards patrolled the outsides but none of those in line seemed to notice, or if they did they didn't care.

Duo slipped his bag off his shoulder and flopped himself on top of it shedding his coat on the way down. "Man, it's hot here." He fanned himself by pulling his shirt back and force against his chest.

"We're practically on the equator Maxwell, what did you expect?" His voice was stern, but try as he may Wufei was starting to feel the tropical heat as well.

Heero however, seemed completely unaffected. As the line progressed forward Duo made no effort to conceal how hot he was, even going so far as to ask one of the officer checking IDs and transport papers what the base's policy on public nudity was. Heero rolled his eyes as he handed the young woman seated next to the officer Duo was interrogating the necessary documents.

She glanced over them quickly, "Name?"

"Agent Heero Yuy."

She nodded and began flipping though a box containing several dozen file folders, quickly extracting his and opening it before. "Ah yes, Agent Yuy. Brussels office, Duration of Stay: Undetermined, Mission Type and Status: Classified."

"Hn."

Barely acknowledging he had made any noise she handed him a clip board, "Please fill out this form stating what, if any, weapons you have brought to the Ichtaca Base with you and which, if any, of them you intend to carry on your person while within the confines of the base."

Heero did a quick mental inventory and jotted down the three small fire arms he had brought with him. As he handed the officer back the clip board and glanced to his right he noticed Wufei was having a much harder time with the form.

The woman was now scanning his documents into the laptop positioned directly in front of her. After a moment she reached under the table and produced a small, credit card sized piece of plastic and handed it to him. "That's your access card for the base, it's encoded to allow you entrance to all the areas that you have been given clearance for." She handed him back his badge and ID, "Welcome to the Alamo."

Heero made his way to the other side where he joined Duo as they waited for Wufei.

"Made it in one piece then eh boys?" The thick British accent was all too familiar and sure enough when they turned around there was Elizabeth Bentley wearing her usual devilish grin. Duo let his bag fall to the floor and rushed to greet Elizabeth sweeping her up into an overly dramatic hug and swinging her around him once or twice before they began to renew their bond of being able to converse at the speed of sound.

"How the hell have you been Liz?!"

"Not to bad, you look great Duo, have you started cooking for yourself or something, then?"

"Ha ha, well look at you! God, you're so tan!"

"Can't help but be I suppose."

"I don't know how you guys take this heat, I've been her like 25 minutes and it's killing me."

"You'll get used to it."

"Hey, maybe you'll know this: The base doesn't have like, a 'clothing optional policy' or anything does it?"

"Duo!" Elizabeth hit his arm in what she surely thought was a playful manner but both Heero and Duo knew he'd have a large bruise there tomorrow morning. "So where's Wufei?"

"Here." said a voice from behind them. He emerged dragging a much lighter looking bag now. "Elizabeth, who the hell decided that individuals shouldn't be allowed to bring more than five of their own personal weapons onto the base?!"

"Sorry Wufei." But in truth she did not look sorry at all. "Rules are rules; you'll get them back once you leave."

Wufei just grumbled and did not notice the coy smile creeping across her face. "So, heard you're going to be tying the knot soon if your girlfriend doesn't beat you to a bloody pulp again first."

Wufei's mouth fell open and Duo roared with laughter, "Aw man, Liz you should have seen it! Sally's got him crouched against this wall, screaming at him, hitting him with a chair leg and he threw the box at her – "

"Enough Maxwell."

"No, come on man, I'm getting to the best part." He turned back to Liz, "So she starts yelling at him again and, alright get this, this is how-ow" Duo paused for a moment to try and contain his laughter, tears were welling up in his eyes, "how he proposed to the love of his l-life. He stands up and screams, 'Damn it woman, I'm trying to ask you to marry me.'"

Both Elizabeth and Duo disintegrated into laughter, as Wufei turned a delicate shade of pink. "How did you know we got engaged?!"

"I told her." Trowa silently appeared from seemingly no where. "Though the way you two were screaming I think that most of Brussels knows."

Wufei glared at the taller man but still accepted his extended hand. "Glad to see you guys made it in one piece."

Duo and Liz were still chuckling to themselves, Heero and Wufei nodded to Trowa turned around and began walking away from them. "Well then, if you'll all follow me there's a jeep back here, I'll take you to where you'll be staying. After you get something to eat we'll meet in one of the conference rooms and go over the first plan. We'll be carrying out the operation next week."

For once Heero looked surprised, "You found one already?"

Trowa stopped and turned back to face them. "We're taking out Phillip Bruges in nine days."


	9. Haunted

Whoa, alright this was a tough chapter to write for some reason. Before we get into it I wanted to mention that I've been getting some feedback from people who are a little confused by the events of the story thus far. First my apologies; I know that this is a somewhat convoluted plot, I've been trying to write as clearly as I can but seem to run into the problem that this all makes sense to me in my head, but might not to other people.

That being said, I keep for myself a very detailed timeline and character list to go back and look at and make sure everything is matching up. Anyone who would like to take a look at it, either send me a message or mention it if you write a review (if you want it e-mailed to a certain place or in a certain format etc…). I'm going to have to go through and edit it a bit before I let you see it, (lest I ruin the story), but I should be able to finish that by, oh what the hell, let's make it August 23rd since that's such a crucial date in our little story.

Along those lines: Chapters ten and eleven are coming up quick and may be two of the most important in the story, so if you're confused about anything now would be a good time to clear that up. As a little added incentive I'll probably throw some general fun-facts about the story line and characters in this little guide as well. Thank you so much for all the reviews and encouragement; I really appreciate the feedback that I've been getting from all of you (keep it coming!), hope that the story doesn't disappoint! Enjoy!

Occam's Razor

Chapter Nine - Haunted

Tynan

Heero very cautiously shifted his arm out from underneath of himself to adjust the scope on his rifle yet again. He moved with quite usually characteristic of the dead, managing even to not disturb the plastic, camouflaged tarp that lay over his back and legs. The rain outside continued to pour through the holes in the ancient ceiling of the church and the humidity was constantly clouding the lens perched on the top of his rifle. The weather was worse on the main part of the continent in Heero's opinion. Their search for Charles Ghent had taken them all the way to Brazil where the strike team was forced to operate out of one of the smaller Preventer's outposts there in order to track him down faster.

He had been here for over an hour now, lying nearly flat on his stomach high in the rafters above the old Catholic church's altar. All he, and everyone else, had to do now was wait. Their operation had fallen behind schedule by several weeks. They had been optimistic after managing to take out Phillip Bruges only 16 days after arriving in Panama. However the other two men had proven to be far more difficult to track down; whether this was because they had become suspicious after Bruges's assassination or because they were simply more careful than he was remained to be seen.

It had taken them nearly a month just to track down Charles Ghent and almost two weeks to find an opportunity and means by which to deal with him. It was the loss of one of Trowa's officers whose cover was blown to find him in the first place. The officer's discovery had not been the man's fault; he simply had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Regardless, he had been discovered by some of Ghent's men and taken to be questioned by him personally. As best they could tell he had revealed nothing and they had made him pay for this. Two days after his disappearance his beaten, mangled body was dumped in front of Ithaca. One of his last living acts however had been to hide a small tracer in the cell where they had been keeping him leaving Heero and the team something to start with.

After several weeks of tailing him all over Brazil, they managed to figure out that he made his home in a small town at the base of one of the mountain ranges. Weeks of planning had gone into this mission; it was determined the best place and time to act would be the coming Saturday morning when Ghent, despite being a hardened criminal, would visit this church to pray for . . . well who knew what a man like that prayed for.

It had taken a good deal of persuasion to convince the old priest here to allow them to carry out an assassination within the walls of his church; in the end he did come to see that his parish members would be better off once Charles Ghent was dead and his gang was out of the way. He agreed to help them keep all of the civilians that would regularly be in the church out, either by approaching them to ask for hand with the garden in the back or inviting them to the rectory for a meal.

For the most part it had worked; the church was empty with the exception of several old women who were all wearing the same traditional clothing of widows, their faces completely shrouded by black veils. About six of them sat in silent prayer in front of the statue of Mary and another two or three knelt in the pews on the balcony, occasionally standing to light a candle. The priest had tried to persuade them to leave several times, but stubborn in their old age they refused to go. Ghent and his entourage would be here any minute, all the team could do at this point was hope they had the good sense to take cover when the shooting began.

They had arrived under the cover of darkness early this morning to deposit their gear in the back room and then had slowly trickled in through the course of the day; a dozen men and women, all disguised as common, church going people were positioned at various places around the church. Heero scanned below him once again, checking all the members of their team. Liz and two other female agents were kneeling in pews just behind the small group of widows, disguised as nuns. Heero and another agent by the name of Kyle Gaffney had taken up sniper positions; Gaffney was in the steeple waiting should anyone try and escape. Two other men, Trowa being one of them, lingered by the back of the church, ready to slam the doors shut once their prey entered the building. The other five were interspersed through the church, posing as parishioners; with the exception of Duo who was currently dressed as the church's priest and hidden in a small room to the side of the building. Like any good priest he was in the middle of doing his scared duty, which in this case meant hearing the confessions of another new parishioner.

"Now come on Wufei, tell me your sins."

"Maxwell, I swear to God - "

"There will be no taking of the Lord's name in vain, my child!" Despite having the dirtiest mouth of them all, Duo did manage to sound outraged.

"Would you just shut-up and pay attention."

"Hey, we're supposed to be believable here right? How's it gonna look if we're just sitting here completely quiet and all?"

"It's not as though they'd be able to hear us anyway."

Duo waved him off from the other side of the screen. "Not the point. Alright, you don't want to tell me what you've done, no problem, I've got plenty. Okay, well there was this one time like four years ago. I guess it wasn't really my fault, I mean how can you see Heero walking under the bridge you're standing on and not throw the water balloons you just happen to be holding at him. If anything I'm a victim of circumstance here. Like this other time when I just happened to be near Heero's office with a bottle of crazy glue and a bag of those really bright colored feathers you get at the craft stores . . ."

Wufei groaned and turned back to look through the tiny holes in the curtain that shrouded him from sight. Crackling noise suddenly came through the small earpiece he was wearing and Gaffney's voice rang out. "The target is approaching, repeat we have the target in sight he is approaching your location."

Duo shut up instantly and drew the Glock .23 from the waistband of his pants. Trowa's voice came through the radio now, "Remember, we don't move until Goeckus and I have shut the doors. Heero's on point, he'll take out Ghent then we'll clean up. No one is to move until Heero takes out Charles Ghent."

From his perch Heero adjusted his scope one last time; he could hear the footsteps coming through the hall and moments later six figures appeared and waited for each man in turn to dip his fingers into the basin of holy water and bless themselves. Heero watched and waited as they slowly began making their way toward their usual seats.

Without warning all hell broke loose. It all happened at once, Gaffney's voice barely rang out a warning over their radios, a dozen or so more heavily armed men were coming towards the church; Heero barely registered the words as at that moment Charles Ghent ducked behind one of the pews and the man standing closest to him threw a grenade in the direction of the room where Duo and Wufei were hiding. At the same time two more pulled small guns from their sides and fired at the backs of Liz and her group; the base of Agent Perez's head burst open and she slumped over the wooden bench in front of her. There was an explosion from the direction the grenade had been thrown and another from the back of the church. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear Trowa yelling the small electronic device secured behind his ear.

" . . . the door is secure, all units, return fire. More hostiles approaching, Heero, take the shot as soon as you have it, repeat take the . . ."

Heero tuned out the rest of what Trowa was saying and quickly began scanning the room; in all the confusion he had lost track of Ghent. As he tried to locate his evasive quarry he mentally took stock of the rest of the team. Liz and the other woman appeared to be unharmed, but were immediately pinned down by the two men still shooting in their direction. There was now a massive hole in wall of the church next to the confessional where Duo and Wufei had been but he thought he saw movement from that direction. Smoke and debris were still clouding the back of the church; he could not see any sign of Trowa or Agent Goeckus. The gunmen were slowly backing themselves against the far wall where the chapel and the larger cluster of those old ladies - Heero did a double take; there was no immediate sign of them, they seemed to have vanished.

Still looking that direction he finally spotted Ghent who was being covered by one of his larger men. Heero steadied his rifle, he might have to take that other guy out first and risk blowing his cover. Despite the gunfire below him he calmly lined up his shot and squeezed the trigger. The massive bodyguard in front of Ghent dropped to the floor; quickly Heero prepared to fire again but it was already too late. Another man had thrown himself in front of Ghent and several of them were looking in his direction. Vaguely he could hear the other armed men Gaffney had warned them about trying to force their way through the door in the back. Heero looked through the scope at the man now protecting Ghent only to see him staring right back, gun trained directly at him. Heero took a breath, knowing there was no time, no way for him to get out of range, his only chance was -

Suddenly more gunfire erupted from near the smuggler and his men. Ghent's new body guard, clearly startled whirled around leaving Heero the tiniest of openings, but it was all he needed. A deep crimson color flowered across Charles Ghent's chest and he collapsed into one of his men. Seconds later green smoke began filling the small room, but from his perch Heero could still barely make out the figures running along the side walls and he could not believe what he was seeing.

Eight or so people, covered in head to toe black garments were making their way towards the middle of the church; the widows. Now standing up straight, Heero wasn't sure how they missed the fact that these clearly were not old women, even as the thought crossed his mind one of them pulled off the veil and head covering to reveal a rather burly looking man with a thick, black beard. Trowa's voice came over the speaker again, "Their reinforcements have breeched the door. . ."

But these black-clad individuals were already on it; they quickly lined up behind one of the pews facing the back door and began to take aim. Several of Ghent's men fell without making it two steps inside the church. Heero continued to watch as they were slowly overpowering the thugs with the help of his team. It was then that he heard a sound to his right and realized his carelessness. Whipping around as best he could he was met with a grizzled, nearly toothless man clamoring from the balcony onto the rafters and swinging himself up onto them. Heero's rifle was trapped under his arms and his body in such a position that he would never be able to turn in time. As the other man steadied himself and removed a large handgun from his side and balanced his body against one of the rafters, took aim and squeezed the trigger.

Heero reacted without even thinking; glancing to his right he rolled off the rafter and half fell, half jumped the 35 feet or so from the ceiling onto the stone floor of the church hitting his arm against something sharp on the way down. His landing was less than graceful as he hit the ground on his side with a sickening crack coming from his shoulder and the left side of his head. For a second everything went black before slowly coming into focus again; he heard a familiar sounding voice that seemed to be very far away calling his name as he tried to sit up but immediately thought better of it. His head was swimming, blood was trickling into his eyes and a searing pain shot up through his left leg.

Everywhere around him gunfire was blazing, people were yelling, and a thin green cloud of smoke still hung in the air. He tried to get his bearings but he knew he was fighting a concussion and at the moment remaining conscious was consuming all of his brain power; vaguely he thought to himself that he had to take cover somewhere and rolling on to his good shoulder reached out to grab onto the side of one of the pews and pulled himself across the floor. Just as he reached the wooden bench and began trying to slide his way in between it he came to a dead stop.

There were footsteps coming up from behind and somehow he knew this individual was coming for directly for him. Heero managed to turn himself around just in time to see the same grizzled man once again levying his firearm at his head. Again he tried to roll out of the way but his shoulder would not have it. If he hadn't been looking directly at his would be assassin he would have missed it: a blur of black cloth appeared behind the other man so suddenly that he didn't even hear the approach.

There was a flash of something metallic and the man's gun fell to the floor, seconds later he joined it. For a moment the he and black clad figure did not move. From his spot on the floor, Heero quickly looked this person up and down though hazy eyes but could hardly tell anything as they were still covered in their garments head to toe. It was clearly a man, tall and angular with a well built body. He let the long, thin piece of metal piping he was holding fall to the ground, landing on top of the now unconscious figure between them, adding a welt next to the gapping wound on the back of the man's head.

Heero could feel himself slipping away. He wasn't sure how badly he was hurt; if it was the head injury or blood loss that was causing everything to go black. He looked up at the man standing over him one more time. The last thing Heero saw was him reaching into one of his sleeves and producing a small handgun as his eyes fell shut.

- - - - -

_Large, brightly colored lanterns were strung across the massive ceiling between the glittering chandeliers, below them tuxedo and gown clad men and women talked, drank, and danced to the serene notes of one of New Delhi's traditional music groups. The night sky was easily visible from the rooms many floor to ceiling windows. He watched her among them, smiling, laughing, charming her way into the heart of anyone who crossed her path. As she was led to the dance floor by one of the older dignitaries she caught his eye casting him a genuine smile. _

_The lights flickered and everything went black, there was screaming, and then a noise like thunder and he was nearly knocked over. A sinister red glow and a thick cloud of black smoke filled the room. He felt his heart begin to race, as he began to look around the dark room but could see nothing; in the back of his head he could hear gun shots and renewed screams, but none of that mattered, he was only listening for one thing. _

"_Heero!"_

- - - - -

"Heero! Heero, come on buddy wake up!"

Heero shifted a little trying to push out the noise that was somehow making the pain in the side of his head that a few minutes ago had been only a dull throb much more pronounced.

"Heero listen, open your eyes. You need to wake up."

His senses were slowly coming back into focus; even with his eyes closed it seemed bright, someone had their hand on his shoulder and another tapping the side of his face, the smell of smoke filled his lungs, the sounds of distant screaming and gunfire still rang in his ears but seemed more real somehow. He was confused for a moment, the sounds and sensations were the same here. With what seemed to take an enormous amount of effort he opened his eyes. Everything was blurry but he instantly knew who was standing over him.

Duo let out a loud breath, "Agh, about time."

Heero tried to sit up but Duo used his good shoulder to push him back down. "Whoa, not so fast there buddy. Just try and stay awake don't move." Duo looked away from him, to what Heero could not say.

He was too tired and dazed to argue, instead he tried to focus his eyes and look around the room. There was a thatched ceiling above him supported by walls of mud and clay, the ground beneath him was hard but warm. "Where are we?" he asked groggily.

The braided man turned back around, wearing a serene but slightly twisted smile, "Oh you know, I thought we needed a weekend away, just the two of us, without the kids – We're in a war zone, Heero!"

Suddenly it all came rushing back to him and again he tried to sit up only to be forced down by Duo. "I said not to move!"

"What the hell happened? Where's the rest of the team?"

Duo stepped away from him for a moment and Heero could see him looking out of a tiny space in the wooden door of where ever it is they were. "They're, well, hopefully most of them made it back to the campsite." He stood and walked back to Heero, slouching against one of the walls. "Everything just went to hell, man. Ghent must have known we were waiting for him somehow. Half of his army gotta be running around this town now looking for our guys."

"Do they know that he's dead?"

Duo's head shot up, "You got him?"

Heero nodded as best he could. "Right before I fell."

Duo smiled a little, "Well, I doubt they know that. They seem to think that we might have captured him or something, only reason I can think of that they're looking everywhere so desperately. Wufei's trying to get in touch with Trowa, he should be back any minute now, hopefully he can tell us what the hell is going on."

Heero placed his hands on the ground and managed to lift himself up a little so he was leaning against the wall. In doing so he got his first good look at Duo. Most of his right side was soaked in blood, the sleeve of his shirt had been torn away and his arm was covered in large gashes; he seemed to be leaning more on his left leg.

Duo caught him staring and smiled, "Relax, most of this is yours." He gestured up and down his side.

Heero was starting to struggle to keep his eyes open again when the door burst open; Duo reached for his gun instantly but stopped when he saw it was Wufei who staggered through the threshold. "I got Elizabeth, they're going to come get us." He looked at Heero, "You're alright?" he asked, sounding almost relieved.

Heero raised his hand a little bit, a sharp pain ripping though his arm as he did. Duo watched him wince and then begin to exam his arm in a way that would suggest he hadn't even known it was hurt in the first place. Heero seemed disoriented but that was too be expected, Duo was amazed that his best friend was still alive, that any of them were for that matter. His mind was still reeling as he tried to think back to what had happened just fifteen minutes before.

- - - - -

"_Holy shit, did he just throw – "_

"_Get down!"_

_Duo threw himself to the floor of the small square room. The inevitable blast followed less than a second later; the wood and stone around him crumbled and he felt himself lifted off the ground and pitched backwards into the wall._

_His ears were ringing and his head felt rattled but he could very clearly make out the sounds of gunfire and screaming now filling the old church._

_Slowly he sat up and pushed one of the splintered pieces of wood on top of him aside; a hand reached through the debris still piled around him and seized the collar of his shirt, lifting him out. As soon as he was free Wufei dragged him behind what was left of the confessional. Standing, it finally hit him that he was bleeding and his body was covered in small wounds. _

_Wufei was watching from their position behind the splintered wall; Duo stuck his head out to look around him. Some sort of smoke was clouding his vision, gunfire was coming from all directions, and maybe he had gotten hit in the head but he could have sworn he saw those old women brandishing weapons. "What the hell happened?" _

_Wufei mumbled something to himself before turning to face Duo, "Can you run?"_

_Duo looked down at his bloodied leg, "Probably not fast enough." he took the other gun from the holster on his leg, "Get over there, I'll cover – " Duo stopped mid-sentence, a familiar figure plummeting from the ceiling suddenly catching his eye, he could hear the sound of him hitting the floor from there. _

_Wufei saw it happen too, but quickly turned to where another figure was climbing out of the rafters down the side of the wall. _

_Duo swore under his breath and without thinking took off as best he could. No one seemed to notice him go as he slid through one of the rows of pews, Wufei just a few steps behind him. He skidded into the aisle just in time to see the largest old woman he'd ever encountered crack open the skull of Heero's would be killer. He stood frozen for a second as Heero and the, well he supposed that it was a man under all those coverings, locked eyes. The man then reached into one of his sleeves producing a gun and turning to where Wufei had just joined Duo. _

_Neither of them moved or spoke for what seemed like ages; out of the corner of his eye Duo saw Heero slump against the side of one of the rows of pews. _

_"You guys are killing Preventers now?"_

_It took Duo a moment to realize that Wufei was addressing the fact that the man in front of them was still pointing a gun in their direction; but at the sound of Wufei's voice he lowered it slightly. _

_People were still moving around behind them, shots still being fired; if it had not been for one freak moment of silence neither of them would have heard the crackle of the taller man's radio and the sharp voice coming from it. ". . . kimi, we're leaving now, you've got two seconds to . . . get your ass to the front . . . we'll meet . . ." _

_As soon as the words were spoken another person wearing the same black dress dropped gracefully from the balcony off to their left and dashed to where the man in front of them was standing pausing a moment to look down at Heero's unconscious body. Without a word the smaller person placed hand on his shoulder as though to indicate their presence and the two broke into a run maneuvering gracefully between Wufei and Duo; the taller one stopped for one second to turn back and yell "You're supposed to be letting us know about this stuff, Chang!" And with that they made a break down the aisle and straight out what was left of the back door. _

_Stunned, neither of them spoke, but a small explosion from the back of the church brought them out of their stupor and they flung themselves to the ground. Duo knelt down beside Heero and instantly realized why that other person in black had been staring; blood was running down his arm and pooling around his head, his leg stuck out at an odd angle, and he had clearly cracked several ribs. "Aw, man Heero, what the hell did you do?" he said more to himself than anyone else. _

_"He fell out of the ceiling Maxwell, you're the one who saw him." Without another word Wufei gestured to the altar and keeping as close to the ground as possible began to drag Heero the fifteen or so feet to the front of the church, ducking behind one of the pews. Duo followed him keeping low to the ground as gun fire soared over their heads. _

_Quickly flinging himself out of the aisle Duo half landed on something soft. To his horror he looked below him to see Agent Perez's body sprawled across the floor, most of the back of her head missing and her eyes open and glassy looking. Startled, he scuttled out of the way as quickly as possible joining Wufei where he was trying to wedge Heero under one of the benches as best he could then turned to Duo, "We're completely pinned down and I can't see what's going on." _

_"Is he alive, is he breathing?" The concern in Duo's voice obvious and completely justified, Heero was turning an awful shade of grayish white and for the first time Duo noticed the large gash running nearly the length of his forearm. Without a second thought he ripped off his sleeve and tied it tightly around Heero's arm just above his elbow. Ripping off another piece of the robe he wrapped it as securely as he could around his forearm. _

_Wufei had crept to the edge of the row of seats, trying to assess their situation, he looked to Duo, "Well?" _

_"He's loosing a lot of blood, we've got to get him back to the base for medical attention." Hiking the long, black robes that covered his khaki pants and combat boots up, Duo reached into his pocket and extracted what was left of his radio. "Damn, yours still in one piece Wufei?" _

_Wufei silently handed Duo his radio which he took and signaled to Trowa that all three of them were more or less alright . . . well they were alive anyway. Trowa was yelling back instructions that neither of them could hear, then Gaffney's voice interrupted him. _

_"You guys need to get out of there! Five more vehicles just pulled up in front of the church." _

_"How many?" Wufei barked back to him._

_"At least thirty, look, I'll cover you as best I can, but get out quick. There's no way you're going to – Shit, one of them has a grenade launcher, he's just gone inside – " _

_Kyle's voice was cut off by a massive explosion. Duo threw himself onto the floor and on top of Heero in an attempt to shield his friend from the falling debris. Righting himself he looked to Wufei, who was scanning the building, "We need to get out of here now." _

_Duo nodded in agreement, "Alright, I'll get Heero, you cover us."_

_"And where are we going?" Wufei sounded skeptical._

_Duo was already lifting Heero up, sliding his right arm under Heero's left and draping his other across his own shoulders. "Around the other side of the altar, there should be a room back there were the priests come in and out of the church." _

_"Should be?"_

_"Hey, it's the best I've got right now!" Wufei didn't nod, he only readied his weapon and began edging as close as they could get to their destination before exposing themselves. _

_Heaving Heero up with him, Duo stood and bolted for the side of the altar, he could hear Wufei on his heals. Rounding the corner, they burst into the room Duo had predicted would be there and slammed the door shut._

_"I don't think anyone's following us."_

_Duo didn't answer, but carried Heero to the window and looked out. "There's a little shed past the rectory. Here, take him for a second." _

_Wufei supported Heero as Duo kicked out the window and climbed out, turning back to help Wufei lift the unconscious man through the glass. He still looked a sickly shade of white but the bleeding in his arm and head seemed to have slowed. _

_Silently they moved to the shed; Duo laid Heero down in one of the corners. Wufei was checking how much ammunition he had left then took out his radio once again and began scanning through the channels. After a few minutes it was obvious his efforts were in vain. "I'm going to go see if I can find someone." _

_Duo lurched from where he had sat down, "Are you insane?! It's like the battle of Stalingrad out there!" Indeed gunfire was not only coming from the church now; Ghent's men had spread out into the street in what was probably an attempt to capture or just outright kill any of their escaped enemies. _

_Wufei shot him a look of venom, "Well one of us has to stay here with him," he gestured to Heero, "and of the three of us I'm in the best shape right now. We'll never get out of here without some help." _

_Unable to argue the point Duo sighed and reached into one of his pockets extracting three extra clips, and handed Wufei two. "You're gonna need these." _

_Again Wufei gestured to Heero, "He's had a concussion, try to wake him up." With that he was out the door leaving Duo with his bleeding and unconscious friend. _

- - - - -

A grunting sound brought Duo out of his thoughts, Heero was trying to lift himself into more of a sitting position. Duo was about to tell him to just lie still again but Heero unwittingly cut him off. "Were they Keiji operatives?"

Wufei's head jerked up, "Yes, they were." he answered quietly knowing that Heero was talking about those people inside the church disguised as widows from the village.

"Guys," Duo sounded as though he were trying to determine how best to phrase his question, "was it just me or, well, I mean was I . . . did either of you hear someone call that big guy Okimi?"

Heero looked confused but Wufei nodded. "You were out cold." he explained.

"That guy . . . that was Okimi?" His voice was cautious, as though he didn't want to insinuate anything.

Both of them were looking at Wufei who seemed to flinch under their stares. "What?"

Duo shrugged, "Nothing, that guy knew who you were, he's never met you though right?"

"I think most of Keiji knows who I am." He looked at the floor, "Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that I know all of them though." he added quietly.

Duo leaned back against the wall with his hands behind his head, "Well, I guess we know what he got called away for then." He gave a humorless little laugh, "Maybe you should have just told him you'd meet him here."

Maybe it was the head injury but the corners of Heero's lips quirked into the tiniest of smiles that disappeared immediately. A tapping sound was coming from the other side of the wall. All three men reached for the nearest weapon, some a little faster than others. They sat in silence waiting until a familiar voice broke the air. " Tehran?"

Duo opened his mouth to answer back, but Wufei signaled for him to be silent. Liz's voice again called to them. "Follow the trail that leads into the forest in two minutes, I'll have the jeep ready. We're regrouping at the base."

Duo glanced back to where Heero was trying to stand up again and walked over to his friend, putting a hand under his uninjured arm and swinging it across his shoulders once again. Wufei was already leaning out the door checking for possible threats.

Heero began feeling light headed again from the sudden motion of getting to his feet. He could feel himself losing consciousness again no doubt from the large amount of blood he had lost. Once again everything started to go black as Duo's far off sounding voice yelled for Wufei to give him hand.

- - - - -

_"You're lucky it was Agent Chang on duty tonight. Any other agent wouldn't have recognized you and shot you."_

_Heero was not startled by the appearance of Lady Une. Truth be told, Heero had watched Wufei from his place in the shadows as he called to his Commander before she departed to his current location; it had taken her a bit longer to get up here than he thought it would. _

_Silently she joined him at the edge of the balcony leaning against the railing of the balcony and casting her gaze in the same direction as his in a manner which might suggest she was unsure of what she would find there. However, both of them knew exactly what he was looking at, four or so floors below them several thousand people were all looking at the same thing._

_Only three days after her kidnapping and the ordeal that had followed, Relena still looked a little too pale for Heero's liking. Maybe it was the lights bleaching out her skin, or that's what he told himself anyway. She looked thin as well, but that was to be expected after what had happened when she was no doubt worried and anxious. He told himself that most of those emotions stemmed from the growing concern emanated by the people of Earth in light of Mariemaia's nearly successful coup. She was troubled by these events and alarmed by how easily they had taken place, how everything she had worked to bring about could come undone in a matter of months, maybe weeks. He told himself these things, but in his heart he knew there was something more. _

_There was no way to deny that she was sad, and certainly no way to deny why that was. He had climbed out of the wreckage of Wing Zero and made his way to the bunker to find Mariemaia Khushrenada wounded and bleeding. Exhausted and with nothing left for him to do, his body had given up with out his consent. The room began to spin and get dark as he felt himself starting to fall only to be caught a pair of small arms attached to a warm body. He had waited, cradled against her in a semi-conscious state, as rescue teams broke down the doors and tried desperately to save the life of the little girl who had thrown herself in front of the bullet meant for the woman now holding him. Mariemaia was whisked away out the door and the Preventers and paramedics turned their attention to the rest. _

_He heard voices, a gruff sounding man with an insistent tone in his voice, Relena responding to him sounding resolute and firm, then Une gently urging something. His body began to get cold and he opened his eyes in time to see Relena being led down the hall by two large men in agent's jackets. One of the paramedics leaning over him spoke and Relena turned back to him, a look of relief on her face. But as quickly as he had brought the room back into focus, his eyes began to fall shut again and very faintly he heard her voice. _

_"I'll meet you at the hospital Heero, please wait for me there."_

_But he had not waited, he had not even gone. He awoke what he could only assume had been hours later on a canvas stretcher, lined up beside several others who like him were not seriously injured and waiting for their turn to be taken to the nearest medical facility. The IV now sticking out of his arm had revived him and for reasons he could not explain he pulled it out of his arm and slowly stood up, almost falling as he took a step. _

_"Hey buddy, you sure you should be doing that?"_

_The man on the stretcher beside him had a large bandage wrapped around his head and was staring at Heero with a mix of fascination and horror. Heero half shrugged, half nodded at the soldier who returned the shrug and settled back against his makeshift bed. "Hey whatever you want man, but frankly you look like hell. Probably wouldn't hurt to let 'em look at you." _

_Without a parting word Heero began slowly making his way towards the road, which was lined with military and emergency vehicles. After a brief moment of searching he found a jeep with the keys still in the ignition and drove off. _

_The next two days had been a blur. He had somehow managed to stagger into his safe house in Brussels and to the cot in the upstairs room. Next he knew almost 48 hours had passed, the floor was littered with empty water bottles, orange juice containers, and wrappers from freeze-dried food rations. He felt weak still but had pulled himself out of bed and to his laptop. The internet was still brimming with news of the attempted coup, the reappearance of the Gundams, and the reported death of Mariemaia Khushrenada; but above all these headlines one other blared loud and clear: 'Vice-Foreign Minister Darlian to Speak in Parliament Today'. _

_How long he had stared at her face in the computer screen he couldn't say. The picture of her that was being displayed had clearly been taken as she was being escorted out of the bunker by Preventers personnel and led to a waiting car. Her face was calm, but clearly concerned as she survey the damage around her. _

_He told himself that he just wanted to check on her before he left again. Where he was going, at this point he could not say, but given his life style and past, it was best to get one last look while he could. In reality it was more complicated that just his; he couldn't say why, but he had dressed and made his way to the Parliament building, effortlessly slipping past the heightened security and secured his current location._

_"Relena's entire security force was killed by Mariemaia's men before they kidnapped her."_

_Heero came out of his thoughts to see the Commander of the Preventer still looking down at the woman speaking from the white marble podium in front of her. "I know."_

_"I've temporarily assigned Agent Chang to the head of the new detail. He's in charge of overseeing all of her security when she is traveling outside of her home or office." _

_"Hn."_

_"I was surprised he agreed to it at all, but he did stipulate that he wanted the post to only be temporary, until we could find someone else that is." The tone in her voice was both casual and coy. "Relena's the Vice-Foreign Minister so she only has standard security at her home, which honestly is all she needs at this point for safe areas. What does require a team led by an agent is when she's in unfamiliar areas, things we can't plan for, can't see coming, things that aren't totally under our control." _

_Heero glanced sideways at the tall, slender woman, who tilted her head to face him._

_Une stood back from the balcony railing and drew herself to full height, turning her entire body to face him. "Relena's life is about to become very dangerous. Mariemaia has dragged her once again into the spotlight; she will be a target for anyone with a vendetta looking to get their point across. Her previous security team had been hand-picked by myself and they still all wound up dead and Relena was kidnapped and nearly killed. At the same time, we can't put her in a metal case and hope nothing happens." _

_"Keeping an eye on her wouldn't be your only responsibility, or even your primary one for that matter. You'd still have to perform all the tasks expected of an Agent, missions and assignments as well as overseeing the team of officers that will cover Relena's security. You'd be assigned to Security and Intelligence but I'd be more than happy to let you work with whichever other departments you wanted." _

_Une shifted in an uncomfortable manner and stopped speaking, it took him a minute to realize she was waiting for him to look directly at her. "I'm not going to pretend your stupid and I have to explain all of this to you Heero. You know as well as I that we are approaching a world caught between two extremes. Peace is upon us but just because there isn't war doesn't mean there won't be violence. It will takes us years, maybe decades to clean up centuries of political turmoil and constant fighting and this is when we will be most vulnerable. Even more so than when we were out war, the world will subtly become a more dangerous place - " _

_"But only the people like us will know that." Heero finished for her._

_A small and sad smile crept on to her face. "It's the burden we carry, the price we must pay for what we've done. It falls to people like us to see that our sins are never repeated. Heero, I want to make sure that Earth and the colonies never suffer the devastation that they have for so long. But to do right now we need her," she gestured toward Relena, "and to keep her and others like her safe, I need people like you." _

_"You have plenty of ex-soldiers that who are capable of filling your ranks."_

_"Filling them yes, but not leading them."_

_"I have no desire to lead - "_

_"And as for capable," she cut him off "I have no doubt that they are, but what Preventers needs are those who are beyond capable." Une stopped and looked down to where Relena was beginning to conclude her speech. "The men who were protecting her last week were capable, but that wasn't enough." _

_Heero looked to Relena as well, the room was now breaking into thunderous applause; he waited for it to die down before speaking again. "What did you do with the girl?" _

_The question caught Une off guard, "Excuse me?"_

_"Mariemaia, you're the only one who was there with enough influence and connections to convince the entire planet that she died, so what did you end up doing with her." _

_Une smiled and leaned against the railing again, "If anyone but you had said that to me I would have been concerned that she might be found out. As things are for now I have her in one of Preventer's closed wards listed under a false name as an innocent victim of the battle." _

_"From what I saw, that doesn't sound too far off."_

_Une nodded solemnly, "I'll have to find a way to hide her once she makes a full recovery . . . given what she was part of I doubt that the public's sympathy for a manipulated little girl would outweigh their desire to try her as a war criminal." She lowered her voice, "The same could be said for the five of you as well." _

_Neither of them spoke as they watched Relena step down from to podium and off to the side of the room where Wufei was waiting. Heero found himself scanning the audience, still clapping, looking for anything out of place, anything even remotely suspicious. One of the officers walking along the edge of the rows of seats was letting people get a little too close to the stage and no one seemed to have noticed the tall man wearing a long, bulky looking coat leering in the direction of the area Relena had just left. _

_"Will you consider my offer?"_

_Again Une's voice interrupted his thoughts. For now Relena was safe, it was after Wufei was no longer keeping an eye on her that should worry him. He tried not to be a crass or arrogant individual but there were some things that he did not trust other people to do as well as he could. _

_"I'll need three months to put some things in order."_

_Une was making an attempt to hide the surprise on her face, "That's fine." She removed a palm sized cell phone from her pocket and left it sitting on the railing, "We'll be in touch until then." _

_Without another word she silently swept out of the balcony. Heero picked up the small electronic device and turned it over in his hand; he knew this wasn't her means by which to keep track of him, it was his way to keep track of Relena until he returned. _

_He stuffed the phone into his pocket and picked up his denim jacket as he made his way back out into the hallway. He had surprised himself as well by agreeing so quickly to Une's offer, but in the back of his mind he knew that it was hardly a question. When it came down to it there was no one else who could keep her safe and that is what he had promised to do. He had promised her that he would protect her and be there whenever she should need him. _

_He had never considered that such a promise could be such a dramatic turn in his life. The war was over now, his purpose in life had come to an end yet he still continued to exist. What use was a weapon with no one to fight. After months of considering this, the answer he had been seeking came to him in a matter of minutes: To protect someone. _

- - - - -

Someone was touching his face gently. As soon as the sensation registered with him is eyes flew open and his body jolted forward. There was a short, quiet yelp of surprise and he whipped around in its direction coming face to face with a petite nurse now standing a good three feet back from his bed.

"Sorry for that dear, hadn't been meanin' to startle ya."

Heero turned the other direction where another, and apparently braver woman, was still next to his bed. Like every other nurse in the army and Preventers hospitals, both of them wore the same standard military style scrubs, stethoscopes around their necks, masks over their nose and mouth, and caps covering their hair which both had pulled back, braided, and wrapped into a tight bun.

The more daring of the two gently pushed him down back against the bed again, "Now let's not be having any of that, you be in no shape to be jumpin' out of bed and the like. Let us just finish adjusting those electrodes on your head there."

Heero did not protest; his head was throbbing, he could feel a tight bandage wrapped around it and some sort of brace around his left leg. He arm was also bound by something and pain ripped through it when he tried to lift it to get a look at the extent of the damage. Settling back he looked around the room while the nurse repositioned the small plastic patches on his forehead and neck. The other nurse was still standing to the side checking several steadily beeping pieces of equipment, apparently too nervous to get any closer lest he try to launch himself out of bed again.

"Where am I?"

She withdrew her hands from the electrodes on his head, "Why, you're back at Ithaca Base dear."

Heero took a minute to process this information; last he remembered was coming to in the back of a jeep that was speeding through the jungle, Elizabeth was bent over him wrapping something around his arm and gave him an injection of some kind, after that the world began to fade to black again.

"What are my injuries?"

The nurse monitoring the machinery he was attached to handed the other one the clip board she was holding. After flipping through several of the pages she began to read, "Well let's see. Looks as though you took a pretty good bump to the head, massive concussion they say, separated shoulder, fractured your left fibula, some minor internal bleeding, few cracked ribs, and ninety or so stitches in your arm and your head." Even with the mask over her face he could tell she was smiling a bit. "Quite the impressive list you have there." She walked to the bottom of the bed and replaced the clip board. "Not to worry though, your chart says you should be up and walking around in two or three weeks and you've already got one down –"

Again Heero tried to sit up, though this time much faster. "I've been unconscious here for a week?!"

The nurse was already pushing him back down into the bed. "No, you've back at Ithaca Base for a week, you've been unconscious for almost ten days. They were worried about your head injury, wanted to be keepin' you sedated and such."

Heero sat back on the hospital bed, "I want to see Trowa Barton or Elizabeth Bentley." he said in the most demanding voice he could muster.

The nurse glanced over to the other one who shook her head in response but did not speak. The one standing over him picked up for her, "Your doctors are the ones who will have to be clearin' something like that luv, for now though, you best be gettin' – "

"What are you doing here?"

All three heads jerked in the direction of the door where Wufei stood looking rather startled for some reason; Heero couldn't be sure who exactly he was addressing. The Chinese man quickly composed himself and turned more in the direction of the nurse still lingering by the monitoring equipment. "I asked what you're doing in here? Agent Yuy isn't supposed to be disturbed."

The one standing next to Heero's bed drew herself up to full height, which really wasn't all that much. "And you be callin' checking his monitors and making sure he's comfortable distrubin' him then eh? Forgive me, but I certainly will not be allowin' any patient on this ward to die or suffer unnecessary pains under me own watch." Her voice had quickly gone from sweet and caring to mildly threatening.

Wufei leaned against the door frame, "Fine, but hurry up."

"As it were, we're all finished here now." She motioned to other nurse who took a second to check his IV line before joining her friend as they walked through the door.

Wufei stepped into the room to allow them to pass but seemed to suddenly think better of it. He reached out and took the quiet one by the arm, "Can I have a word with you, actually?" Without even waiting for her consent he guided her out of the Heero's room and down the hallway, the other nurse following close behind.

Heero closed his eyes and relaxed into the surprisingly comfortable hospital bed. He'd been here under sedation for over a week with no idea what had happened to the rest of their team. Wufei was obviously fine, he could assume that Duo, Trowa, and Elizabeth were as well or Wufei probably would have said something. Then again . . .

"Hey, you're awake!"

Heero lifted his head up to see who had just entered the room as though he might not have recognized the overly cheery voice. Duo was coming through the doorway a huge grin plastered across his face as he pulled a chair up next to Heero's bed and straddled it backwards.

"So how're you feeling?"

"Like I fell from a forty-foot ceiling and had my unconscious body dragged through the jungle for two and half days."

Duo face contorted into an expression of annoyance, "Well fine, next time I'll just leave you bleeding to death on the floor in the middle of a shoot out."

"How bad was it?"

Duo looked caught off guard by the question he should have known was coming. Regardless he took a deep breath and began explaining, "Well, Perez and Gaffney both died. Kyle stayed up in the steeple to cover our escape apparently and Ghent's guys went up after him. I guess he didn't really have much of a chance, he was completely cornered up there and all. Trowa took one in the leg, superficial though, he's fine already. Everyone else got away with other minor stuff." He paused and looked at the floor, "Could have been a lot worse, at least we got Ghent."

Heero nodded in agreement. "And you?"

Duo smiled in silly way, "Eh, come on Heero, it's gonna take a lot more than a badly aimed grenade to get me off your back."

Heero did not return the smile and made no indication that he thought anything Duo had just said was funny.

"I'm kidding buddy, geez." He lifted up the side of his shirt to reveal several pinkish lines on his side, "Just a couple cracked ribs and a whole bunch of stitches."

"Hn."

Silence hung in the room for a moment; to Heero this was a telltale sign that Duo was trying to come up with a way to broach a topic with him that most would not dare to. Sure enough . . .

"Hey, Heero I, um, well I wanted to ask you . . ."

"Yes?"

"Well, look, ya know that I wouldn't say anything except. Well, look you've been completely out of it for like a week and a half now and a when we got you back to the base in Brazil and then a few times when I came to check on you here you . . . well you weren't sleeping too good."

"Hn."

"Like I mean, you were talking in your sleep and rolling around and everything . . ."

Heero closed his eyes again, knowing what Duo was about to say but hoping that he wouldn't.

"You kept saying her name over and over . . . I mean I know that you're all drugged up and stuff, but you've, well you've seemed a bit off lately . . . I just wanted, I mean are you . . ." Duo let out a long sigh, "You're alright and everything?"

Heero was not sure how to answer the question; the obvious answer was yes, he was fine. Truth be told, however, that was not the case. He felt haunted to say the least; for some reason Relena's shadow seemed to follow him everywhere that he went. He had tried to push thought out of his mind, but suddenly he could not suppress this overwhelming feeling that was constantly creeping over him; some kind of bizarre paranoia was the only way he could come up with to describe it.

Feeling like this was new, unfamiliar, and seemed to develop for no reason he could come up with. In the months that had followed her disappearance he had simply been, angry, frustrated, and panicked. When it became clear that they were not making, nor were they going to make, any sort of progress in finding her the panic had evolved into a full-blown mental break down. The next few months had been a torrent of emotions that had then been pushed aside by the outbreak of the Echidna Epidemic. When the smoke had settled he was left with a feeling of emptiness, knowing that a part of his life, what had probably been the most important part, was gone forever.

Slowly he had come to terms with this; first by throwing himself into his work, then (by Dr. Kelly's suggestion) trying to move on with his life. He had done so as best he could but that empty feeling had always remain, lodged in the back of his mind, sitting like a weight on his heart, he was never without it; except for recently. This ghostly feeling was somehow beginning to consume him. She was everywhere to him, but no where he could see.

- - - - -

Newport City gleamed from the other side of the floor to ceiling glass windows. The full moon revealed a snow-covered and picturesque looking city and no matter how many times she stole a glance in its direction, Mariemaia could not stop looking at the beautiful landscape. It was hard to believe that not 500 miles from here 27 people had been killed today in an explosion this morning.

Here everything seems so safe and calm, within the confines of the Sanq Kingdom the world she knew was at peace. Her mother had managed to sneak away from Brussels for a few days and currently having dinner in the Sanq Kingdom Palace's grand dinning room with Noin and Milliardo. Having all four of them together was a rarity; two or three times a week she would eat by herself or with the cook whom she had become rather friendly with. Usually several of the other nights she was joined by either Noin or Milliardo, occasionally both; but to have her mother as well as her two other guardians all at the same table was something that did not happen often.

"Mari, did you hear me?"

"Huh?" she answered thickly and turned back to face her mother.

"I asked if you were planning to be attending your school's Christmas Ball this year?"

Mariemaia shrunk back in a disgruntled way. "Even if I say that I'm not, you're going to convince me that I should."

Une smiled at her knowingly, "You're only going to be this age once, you should take as many opportunities to enjoy yourself as you can."

"Going to a ball isn't something I'd consider enjoyable."

"Really?" Zechs looked up from his plate with a confused expression, "I thought that these sort of things are what girls your age lived for. Getting dressed up, wearing make-up, and having your hair done . . ." He looked to his wife for help but she only shrugged her shoulders.

"Some girls enjoy those sorts of things, but most of them are the kind whose bra sizes are larger than their IQs."

"Mariemaia!" Une was trying not to laugh, as was Noin who was not succeeding in any sense of the word.

"Well it's true! The only girls who like going to these things are the ones who just want to show off how good they think they look or the ones who actually have someone to go with!" Reflexively she felt herself blush a bit.

Noin looked over at her in a sympathetic way, "No one special you want to ask Mari?"

She felt her face burn a deep crimson color, "Well . . . one boy did sort of ask me to go with him."

Une's expression suddenly darkened, "Do I know this boy?"

Mari sat straight up suddenly as though poked in the back, "I didn't tell him 'yes' Mom."

"But I bet you didn't tell him 'no' either." Noin coyly answered.

"No, I didn't." she responded in little more than a mumble.

For a moment none of them spoke until Une broke the silence. "So . . . what's his name?"

"Brian, Brian Anderson."

"Oh, Representative Anderson's son!" Zech looked grateful for the chance to enter the conversation, "She was telling me about him just the other day actually; did he really make the Varsity Debate Team as a freshman?"

Mariemaia buried her face in her hands, clearly mortified, and was about to excuse herself when the door opened and one of the residence's many butlers stepped in.

"Pardon the interruption Mr. Peacecraft, this just arrived by messenger." He extended his arm and held out a small, brown postal envelope.

Mari lifted her head as the room fell completely silent; all three adults were gaping at the package as though they expected it to attack them at any second. Finally Noin managed to find her voice, "Milliardo, that's not . . ."

Without a word Zechs took the envelope from the butler and waved him out of the room. His hands were shaking as he turned the heavy brown paper over in them. It had been nearly three years since he had last received one of these. It had been the second one; the first had come to him as the Echidna Epidemic had just begun and the letter inside had been from Leon's Army claiming responsibility for the biological attack. The second had declared their execution of his little sister.

Beside him Noin looked pale, Une looked taken a back. There was no mistaking the package; it was exactly the same as the other two, right down to the hand writing on scrawled across the front. Steadying his hand he began to rip it open. What could whoever this person was possibly want now, what other horrible news could they have to tell him? Despite all of Preventer's efforts they had never been able to track down the individual responsible for the previous two letters, both of which were written in a manner to suggest the author was a casual observer of the events he was reporting, rather than a mastermind of them.

Zechs felt around inside for a piece of paper but when his hand emerged all that he produced as a small data stick with a note written on the side in black marker: "8/23/199"


	10. Brave Souls

So here it is finally, the (not so) long awaited Chapter Ten. Sorry for taking so long to get this up, I've been having internet issues for the past week. This one's a bit on the long side but there was a lot that I wanted to get in this chapter before the story sets off on a different course ;). Again, thank you so much to every that's been reading this story, and for the reviews and feedback, I'm very glad that you're all enjoying it! Well then, without further ado . . .

Occam's Razor

Chapter Ten – Brave Souls

Tynan

_There was a knock on the door, which for some reason he found odd. The closed wing of a high security hospital didn't seem like the sort of place where people would knock before entering. Regardless, Heero stood from the chair he had been dozing in and went to open the door, but before he reached the knob it began turning and the door was pushed open._

_Standing on the other side was a slender woman of about 30; her hair jet black hair was cut short and hung in a sort of bob that framed her face, her skin complexion was on the darker side which only made her grayish blue eyes pop out of her long narrow face that much more. She wore a cream colored turtleneck sweater that accentuated her long, graceful neck and a knee-length lab coat on top of that. Draped across her collar was stethoscope and clutched in one of her hands was a rather lager leather briefcase, the other was occupied with a small cell phone; she wasn't even looking at him as she entered the room and sat down._

_Heero stood there for what seemed like forever and watched the young woman who would probably have the final say on whether or not he was ever allowed to leave this place try and send a text message on her relatively simple phone. Not sure what else to do and suddenly feeling very exposed in only hospital scrubs he tried to speed the process along, "Do you need help with –"_

"_No, I've got it, I'm just not very good with these sorts of things." Her voice was soft but sharp, she still didn't look up but as soon as the words escaped her mouth the small electronic device emitted an affirmative sounding beep and she flipped it shut. Bending down to her briefcase she deposited the cell phone in it and extracted several thick manila folders but did not open them, rather she set them on her seat as she stood. "Well then, you must be Heero Yuy."_

_Despite his rather unstable psyche he had never actually encountered any sort of a psychiatrist and was beginning to wonder if they were all this . . . casual. "Yes, I am."_

_She smiled, "Well thank goodness for that, I wouldn't have wanted to wonder into the wrong room accidentally and end up locked in with an axe murder . . . happened to a colleague of mine once . . ." She extended her hand and he shook it awkwardly. "I'm Dr. Kelly, I'm here for your preliminary evaluation."_

_Not wanting to seem rude he nodded slowly._

"_Well, sit down then."_

_He complied with her request, but remained stiff and uncomfortable looking on the large, squishy armchair the hospital had seen fit to provide him with. Dr. Kelly took a seat across from him, "Well before we being I want to assure you that anything said in this room, or anywhere else we meet for that matter, will stay between the two of us. That being said, right now I am here to evaluate you but I will become your primary therapist."_

"_I don't need a therap – "_

_She ignored him and kept talking, "I can imagine that you're anxious to get out of here so let's see what we can do about that." She took a small notebook from her bag and flipped it open. "Commander Une is hoping to have you back to active duty as soon as I give her the green light. Assuming that what I've gathered from your case file is true, hopefully we can let you go in a week or so." She stopped and looked up to meet his eyes, "You should know Heero, that you are on the closed ward because Commander Une and Agent Po wanted to maintain a certain degree of discretion and privacy for you; you're listed as being admitted due a potentially serious case of pneumonia. Once you leave here your records will probably say that you're on medical leave, but you'll be meeting with me on a regular basis for that time, which will be at least two weeks, before I can allow you to go back to work."_

_Heero ran his hand through his hair in exasperation, "This is really all unnecessary."_

"_No Heero, this is all very necessary."_

_Resigning himself to the fact that no matter what he did this woman was not leaving, Heero slumped back in his chair and looked Dr. Kelly over once more. "You don't work in this hospital?"_

_She smiled, "What gave me away?"_

"_Your ID is a visitor's badge."_

"_Very observant of you; as it were I'm actually in private practice but I'm commissioned by the Preventers Bureau on occasion, like if they have a special case or something that fits into my area of expertise."_

_Great, so he was a special case now. "And what is your area of expertise?"_

"_Psychosis brought on by traumatic events and loss," She was no longer smiling, in fact her expression was somewhat unreadable, "especially for those with backgrounds in the military, those who lived through the war." _

_His expression must have betrayed his confusion because she continued to explain, "Initially I did a lot of work with the psychological attributes of soldiers; my research dealt with how the mental state, training methods, and intelligence of fighters could factor in to the outcome of battles and wars. But as the war progressed I began seeing men who were done fighting for one reason or another but still suffering the long term effects of constant fighting. Not in a post traumatic stress disorder way mind you, rather that they could not come to terms with what they had lost during the war, or sometimes as a result or after it. Soldiers were returning home without their friends, or to find their families gone, or that lives had moved on without them and they'd been left behind in the battle. Losing what little stability they had in the first place was enough to push many of them over the edge as they began to feel that they no longer held a purpose in life.."_

_Heero took a minute to mull over what she had just said as Dr. Kelly picked up one of the files and began flipping through it; to his great surprise handed it to him._

"_Officially this is your file." she explained. He took it from her hand and opened it to reveal his what Preventers considered to be his official background, history, qualifications, and any number of other lies that had been made up to accommodate his scattered past._

"_I won't jerk you around Agent Yuy; we both know that unofficially there is a great deal more to you."_

_His head jolted up in a questioning manner to which she only cast him a coy smile, "Yes, I know that you were the Gundam pilot Zero One, that you were more or less raised by a mercenary who trained you to be an assassin, then by mad scientist who went by the name 'Dr. J' who brainwashed you to be used as a weapon."_

_Heero knew he was gaping at her but she kept going, "I know that you were the one who repeatedly saved Relena Peacecraft during the war and that you joined the Preventers Bureau in order to keep her safe . . . I also know that she meant a great deal to you."_

_Heero was stunned, no one knew this much about him. "How could you possibly know those th –"_

"_Commander Une is far more resourceful than you give her credit for Agent Yuy." He must have been staring at her in a disbelieving way because her face suddenly became very serious and she raised her eyebrows a bit. "Do you really thing that OZ and Romefeller weren't doing everything in their power to learn as much about you and the other pilots as possible? Who do you think was in charge of finding out this information? Would Treize Khushrenada entrust a task of that magnitude to anyone other than his most loyal and faithful right hand?"_

_She stopped for a moment, presumably so that Heero could process this information. "In this day and age, Agent Yuy, no one, not even yourself, can slip completely under the radar. In fairness it was not your own carelessness that gave Commander Une something to work off of in the first place; it was in Dr. J's haste to command you to detonate your own Gundam that he did not adequately encrypt and conceal the transmission line he was using. Commander Une was able to trace his location and start working backwards from there."_

_Neither of them spoke for a moment, Heero waited to see if Dr Kelly would go on but she did not. "I take it she kept this information to herself then?", the statement came out somewhat bitter sounding._

_The woman nodded, "Yes, by the time she had uncovered enough information on the five of you to make any use of it, her loyalties, along with her personality, had shifted somewhat and she felt that to protect what was dear to her, she must not share what she had learned."_

"_And she just came out and told you all of this?"_

_Dr. Kelly's smile widened a bit, "Before we begin I should probably tell you a little about myself."_

_He was getting angry now, frustrated by the sudden and casually delivered revelation that his preciously guarded past had been common knowledge to some all along. "I don't really care all that much. As for when we're beginning, it would seem you already know everything about me, so why ask me senseless questions so that you can try to figure out what's wrong with me." His voice was deadpan but effectively conveyed the overwhelming sense of annoyance he was currently struggling under._

"_What makes you think that I need to figure out what's wrong with you?"_

_Heero cast the woman a quizzical, but venomous look. "That's why I'm being locked up here isn't it? Why you're here to evaluate me? So that you could determine for Une whether or not whatever it is you think is making me lose my mind is enough to keep me from doing my job."_

"_No Heero, that's not why you're here."_

_He tried not to roll his eyes; he'd never been this exasperated with someone in such a short period of time. "Would you please explain to me why I am here then so I can give you what you want and leave? I have better things to be doing with my time right now then talking in circles with a fake doctor who's going to overanalyze everything I say." The words dripped with venom and distain as he practically spat them in her direction._

_Dr. Kelly, however, did not respond to the verbal attack, rather with all in the calm in the world, she removed her glasses and sat them down on the table next to her. Without a word she stood from her seat and closed the ten or so feet between her and her patient._

_Heero barely saw her raise her arm, it was more the sting left of the right side of his face that gave him any clue she had just struck him. He did not react but only stared back up at her with a flabbergasted expression on his face. _

_She knelt down in front of him, her voice had taken on a deadly sounding quality to rival even his own, "Now let me explain something to you Heero Yuy: You are here for one reason and one reason only: because Commander Une feels that you are worth trying to salvage. Most officers and agents who pulled half of what you did, breakdown or not, would have been shown the door quite sometime ago. Une believes that with my help you can join the ranks of functioning adult society again. Two days ago you had a psychotic episode to rival that of a life-long heroine addict coming off a three week bender; you are hardly fit to be left by yourself, let alone continue to try to do your job. I'll be blunt with you Heero, you are teetering on the brink, probably have been for sometime now but something pushed you over the edge. You can go one of two ways right now: let me help you work through this and get on with your life, or suffer a complete psychosis so that the only thing you'll see for the rest of your life will be the inside of your padded cell and the nurse coming to give you your medication and clean the drool from your face." She stood up and looked down to meet his eyes. "Commander Une sent you to me because a strange series of events made me quite possibly the only person in the entire solar system capable of doing a damn thing for you right now."_

_She gracefully stepped back to her seat, Heero watched her in a dazed and suspicious sort of way but she did not seem to notice. She placed her glasses back on her face and picked up her notepad. "Now, as I was saying, I believe that I should probably tell you a bit about myself." She didn't wait for Heero to nod dumbly before continuing, "My full name is Dr. Irena Lauren Kelly, but during the war I was addressed by my rank, which was Major Kelly. I was a military psychiatrist under the Alliance and then OZ, and a close personal friend of Colonel Une. During her investigation it was that fact, and that fact alone that made her come to me to help her compile psychological profiles of the Gundam pilots."_

- - - - -

"Hey guys, wake up! Come on, we're late!"

Heero rolled over on his cot and tried to dampen Duo's voice from reaching his ears; he'd been out of the hospital wing for two weeks now but was still on several medications that left him feeling groggy in the morning. However, he reasoned that he at least had excuse for his demeanor, Wufei was just plain cranky.

"Maxwell, it is 4:30 in the morning, I'm going to roll over and you had better be on fire, you'd better be standing there, in flames and I'm the only one who can put them out because that is the only – "

Duo had stopped listening, "Guys, Liz is leaving in 15 minutes, let's go!" He clapped his hands a few times to get his point across. He stepped outside the door leaving his two bunkmates to roll off their beds and pull on some clothes. Usually it would be them dragging him out of bed, but not this morning.

Aside from Elizabeth departing the base shortly, the three of them were finally going home after nearly four and a half months of trekking around South America and the Amazon. Following over a month of searching they had finally found the last of their quarry and had taken out Jonathan Asturias not hours before he tried to board an aircraft that would allow him to escape the continent for North America, apparently very aware that someone was after him and he had little chance of escaping them much longer.

Heero had been left behind at the base even after being released from the infirmary; his injuries were bad enough that his doctors thought it best that he not engage in any strenuous activity. Surprisingly he had complied with little objection, instead opting to remain at the base and work through the intelligence data gathered on Asturias. In Duo's eyes his friend needed the rest, but at the same time maybe sitting in the same place, slightly bored all day with plenty of time to be thinking was not the best thing for him either. He was beginning to get concerned about Heero; it was a series of little things that most would never notice, but he seemed distracted and distant, much like he had those three years ago . . .

The door opened behind him and Heero emerged, followed by Wufei. Duo grinned at them, both were clearly not entirely awake yet. "Ready?" They nodded in unison and wordlessly followed him off in the direction of the heliport.

- - - - -

Trowa leaned back against the wall and watched as Elizabeth checked her gear for the fourth time to make sure that nothing she was bringing with her would give her away as a member of Preventers. Thorough, as always, she had been ready to leave for two days now should something come up, but that didn't stop her from picking at every last little detail . . . but that's what made her good at her job.

"I don't like this."

She looked up at the sound of his voice but was clearly not surprised; rather she smiled in a sad and sympathetic way. "I know, but it can't be helped."

"You should be taking someone with you at least."

"Trowa, you know that I can't – "

"And working in Covert Ops for four years, you should know that missions like this are dangerous to the point of bordering on irresponsible." He heard his voice get uncharacteristically loud, but he didn't care. She was leaving to join some of the key members of the Eztli Gang under her disguise as a smuggler, supposedly they would be taking her to Africa to meet with several affiliates of Josef and his inner circle. She was going completely alone and would have almost no way of contacting them should something go wrong.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he was slightly startled when a pair of small arms encircle his waist and a mass of fiery red hair came to rest on his chest; instinctually he wrapped his arms around her returning the embrace. When she finally spoke her voice held a quality that he rarely heard from her, she sounded nervous. "Trowa, we both agreed that we'd have to be taking risks and that we had to put the work we were doing before us."

He sighed and held on to her tighter, "I know, I just . . . it should have been me – "

Elizabeth pulled back sharply from him, a look of annoyance on her beautiful face, "Well it wasn't! And if the situation were reversed don't you think that'd I'd be just as worked up as you are?"

Trowa nodded slightly, glad for the fact that half of his face was hidden by his hair, "You're right, I'm sorry." He stepped toward her closing the gap between them again and cupping her face with his hand, "Liz, I'm worried, I think that this is too soon into the operation and . . ." his voice caught in his throat, ". . . and if something happens to you, I might never know . . . and you'd just be gone forever."

Her eyes began to water slightly and he knew she could tell exactly what he was thinking: What if he found himself locked in the same fate of Heero and Relena . . . never knowing what had happened to the other? Without thinking he leaned down bringing her into a gentle kiss and she pulled him closer to her.

A knock on the door ended the embrace much sooner than either of them would have liked, but they separated just as the door opened and Duo appeared.

Liz smiled in spite of herself, "You lot came to see me off then?"

Duo's face cracked into a wide smile, "Of course we did! You didn't think we'd just leave without wishing you well did you?" He entered the room and pulled her into a bone crunching hug before setting her back down. Once firmly back on the floor she glanced over Duo's shoulder where Heero and Wufei were standing in the doorway and smiled. Heero still looked a little on thin side, but that was to be expected. As stubborn as he and Wufei were she had become very fond of both of men.

She stepped back to where her duffle bag was sitting on the floor and slung it over her shoulder, "Well I'd best be off then. When does your flight leave?"

"Not for another four hours." It could have been her imagination but there may have been a touch of concern in Heero's voice as he followed her into the hallway.

She stopped and turned to face the four men who had become like family to her, "All of you take care of yourselves then, yeah?"

They nodded silently and surprisingly it was Wufei who took it upon himself to speak, "You do the same, we'll be thinking about you."

- - - - -

Francheska leaned back against the long white van and watched as the small aircraft she was there to meet taxied down the runway, slowly coming to a stop and turning around to where a ground crew was waiting with a set of moveable stairs. In some ways she hated these sort of things, these meetings at the airport reminded her too much of much happier days; days when she was the one getting off the plane, following Relena Peacecraft onto the runway.

Relena. She had never admired and respected someone so much as the woman she had looked to as her mentor and come to love as a sister. The brief period of time she had spent in her service had been some of the most fulfilling days of her life, ones that she would never forget.

Stepping away from the van she tapped on one of the heavily tinted windows, indicating she'd be right back. Francheska sighed and walked a little distance away from the van so as to make herself more visible; as she went, she couldn't help but think back to how this life of hers had all started.

- - - - -

_Francheska watched apprehensively as the uniformed officer checked and double checked her credentials before handing them back to her. As she stuffed them into the leather bag hanging from her shoulder she idly wondered what the hell she had gotten herself into._

"_Step through the metal detector please."_

_The officer's voice startled her and in her rush to make up for the time she had wasted spacing out she half jumped, half ran through the large doorframe-like object, almost tripping over the end of it and drawing a look of speculation from the officer on the other side._

"_S-sorry." she sputtered quickly before turning to present herself to the next office who was too busy with the computer screen in front of her to notice._

"_Francheska Bidd-ell." The woman seemed to be talking more to herself._

"_Biddle, ma'am." She nodded slightly in response before handing her a plastic badge in a laminated cover._

"_Take the elevator to the 57__th__ floor; give the receptionist your name and tell her that you're there to meet with Commander Une." She looked her up and down as she said this and Francheska knew the woman was wondering what business this sixteen-year-old could possibly have with the Commander of the Preventers Bureau._

_Trying to walk with as professionalism as she could in brand new high heels, she stepped into the first elevator, which was completely empty, and pressed her floor number. Her nerves were starting to get to her again, she couldn't help but be curious as to why she needed to come to the Preventers Bureau Headquarters before she officially started her Parliamentary Internship. She was jarred from her thoughts as the elevator stopped at the 38__th__ floor and a loud voice met her ears as the doors opened._

"_Man, I don't get this, why do they need me to report every single move that I make?"_

"_Hn."_

_Two men in agent's jackets stepped onto the elevator, neither seeming to notice her presence. One had a large, thick, chestnut brown braid that hung down to his knees and was apparently perturbed about something. The other had mass of dark, unruly hair obscuring his eyes in such a way that Francheska wasn't sure how he could possibly be reading the files he was holding in front of his face._

"_I'm serious man, I'm half expecting to have to ask for a hall pass to go use the bathroom, and I swear I'm going to lose this thing and all hell's gonna break loose because I won't be able to go anywhere in this freakin' building." The man with the braid waved his security swipe card out in front of him, his friend didn't seem to notice._

"_Hn."_

_The elevator had begun to more again and Francheska couldn't help but notice that neither of them had pushed a floor button; as soon as the thought crossed her mind the elevator stopped again, this time on her floor and the one reading stepped off, followed by the one still ranting._

"_Do they do this to everyone here or is this some sort of hazing for the new guys!?"_

_She walked behind them and began scanning the lobby area for the receptionist desk, quickly finding it but also discovering that it was empty. Looking around, the only other people in the area were the two men who had been on the elevator with them; they had stopped walking and the one reading was, well still reading, while the other was looking around impatiently. Finally the man with the darker hair lowered the files from his face and turned to his companion._

"_Where were you going?"_

_He looked slightly taken aback, "Where were you going?"_

_The look on the other man's face was somewhat frightening, "I was following you."_

"_I was following you."_

_For a moment they just stared at each other then suddenly the man with the file flipped it shut and stalked back to the elevators, "We don't tell anyone about this."_

_The braided man let out a small laugh before he realized that his friend had left with out him, "Geez Heero . . ." he swore under his breath and punched the down button._

_Not knowing what else to do, Francheska approached him slowly, "Umm, sir, excuse me. . . do you – "_

_The man whipped around so fast his braid hit her in the face and she stumbled back in surprise. "Oh, hey sorry, I forget that thing a lot."_

_Francheska stared at him incredulously wondering how anyone could possibly forget that they had a four foot long appendage hanging from the back of their head._

"_What'd ya need?"_

_She composed herself as best she could, "I here for a meeting with Commander Une, they said there would be someone at the desk – "_

"_Oh yeah, they're always wondering off, no biggie, I'll take you there." Without another word the man strode towards one of the large glass doors and swiped his badge, there was a buzzing sound and the door automatically began to open. He looked back at her, "Well are you coming?"_

_Starting forward she followed him to other side and had to jog to keep up as he walked quickly down the long hallway stretched out in front of them._

"_Oh yeah, so I'm Duo Maxwell."_

_She accepted his hand as they walked, "Francheska Biddle, you're an agent here?"_

"_Yup, just started a couple weeks ago, I'm in Security and Intelligence. Don't worry, this place isn't as scary as it seems, you'll get hang of it real quick."_

"_Oh no, I'm not a Prevent – " but she didn't finish her sentence as the man escorting her cut her off._

"_Here we are, hang on a sec. Hey Nicole!" They had stopped at the end of hallway and came to a large open area; one of the walls had a sole elevator imbedded in it and a large desk lined against another. Behind it was a young woman of about 20 now talking to the man who had just introduced himself as Duo Maxwell. After a moment he waved for her to join him._

"_Une's on the phone, you can just hang here for a minute and Nicole will – "_

"_Nicole, is that Maxwell I hear out there?!" A sharp, very angry sounding voice rang out over the intercom on Nicole's desk. Duo's eyes got huge and he turned Nicole, shaking his head silently pleading with her not to reveal him; the secretary only smirked evilly back at him._

"_Yes ma'am, and your 8:30 appointment is – "_

"_Send him in here!"  
_

_Duo's head had flopped down on his chest, but he slowly walked through one of the double doors Nicole was now holding open for him and immediately the same sharp voice from the intercom began screaming. After he had entered Nicole did not let it close, rather she turned back to where Francheska was standing. "You should probably go in too."_

_She felt her self physically recoil at the suggestion, "Oh no, I don't want to . . . umm intrude."_

_Nicole smiled pleasantly, "Once she gets into stride it can take her a while to stop; if you want to see the Commander before noon today you'd best put yourself in her line of sight."_

_Francheska nodded thickly and made her way through the door in much the same fashion that Duo Maxwell just had. The office was large to say the least, the entire back wall was made of slightly tinted glass that overlooked the capital city of Brussels, in front of that a tall woman with brown hair framing her elegant face and wearing a Preventer's jacket over a military style business skirt was standing behind her desk screaming at the man who had just brought her here._

"_I've been in the military my entire adult life Maxwell, and I have never seen anything like this." She picked up a folder and waved it in front of her. "You managed to fail a simple physical."  
_

"_I didn't fail – " he began to protest, but was quickly cut off._

"_For blood type you listed 'red'," she had opened the folder and was now reading from it, "for weight you put '0' – "_

"_I was in space when I filled it out!"_

"_When asked if you had an allergies you wrote 'paperwork, boy band music, and Agent Chang'! Next to 'Eyes' you wrote 'two'."_

_He laughed a little, but she continued, "Oh and I forgot to congratulate you on the new addition to your family."_

_He looked puzzled now, "The new addition. . ."_

"_Yes, according to your blood work you're pregnant with a little girl!"_

_He smiled sheepishly, "I may have switched some of the vials around in the lab so I didn't have to actually give them my blood . . ."_

"_I swear to God Maxwell, if Agent Yuy hadn't personally requested you for this job I'd skin you alive and hang that braid of yours on my wall!" She gestured to the back of the room and stopped abruptly as her eyes came to rest on the figure standing near the door trying her hardest to be invisible. "Who are you?"_

"_That's Francheska Biddle, Commander. You're 8:30 appointment." Nicole's voice rang out over the intercom on Une's desk._

_The woman's face softened a bit, "Oh yes, of course, please come sit down." She indicated the chair beside Duo, "As for you Maxwell, I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on you for the next several weeks and if I hear from anyone in your department that you are anything short of spectacular, well, it would be in your better interest not to let me hear that."_

_Duo Maxwell smiled in a silly sort of way, "Well, if that's the case . . ." he said as he started to get up._

"_Not so fast Maxwell, this is Francheska Biddle, she's starting her first day of the Parliamentary Internship on the Foreign Minister's staff as her personal aide. Miss Biddle this is Agent Duo Maxwell, he's one of our agents in Security and Intelligence and Head of Domestic Security for the Foreign Minister."_

_The light of comprehension dawned on Duo's face, "Oh, so you're not with Preventers?"_

_She shook her head but Commander Une answered for her, "No Francheska was selected from a highly competitive pool of candidates for the position; she can hold the internship the entire length of her time at University."_

_Duo winked at her, "Pretty impressive stuff. Well, I'm sure that we'll be seeing a lot of each other – "_

"_I said not to go anywhere, Maxwell." He plopped himself back down in the chair with a pout and Une turned back to where Francheska sat, her beautiful face suddenly much kinder. "I apologize Miss Biddle, ordinarily I don't meet with every new intern that enters Parliament but as I'm sure you're well aware, the Foreign Minister is a bit of a special case . . ."_

_She reached around one of the many piles on her desk and picked up a folder similar to the one she had been reading out of moments ago, "Your background checks all came back clear, I just wanted to explain to you the security situation before you head over to the Medical Division."  
_

"_The Medical Division ma'am?"_

_She looked up, "Yes, we do all the physical examinations for ESUN members here, makes it easier to keep track of things. Is there a problem?"_

_Francheska sat very straight quickly, "N-no ma'am, I h-have a slight condition, that's all."_

_Une nodded, "Well you can explain it to Agent Po when you get there. Now, as I was saying, due to the incidents a month ago Preventers has stepped up the security level for all members of the ESUN government, but the Foreign Minister is being given special consideration. That being the case, as her personal aide you will be partially responsible for assisting her security team in matters of scheduling, appointment lists and things like that. Aside from those basic duties I want you to understand that you should report to Agent Maxwell or Agent Yuy personally anything you find suspicious or out of the ordinary; I'm sure that you'll be quite amazed with how quickly you'll begin to sense when things are amiss. That being said, all of the members of the Foreign Minister's security team are strictly of the highest caliber, I'd trust any of them with my life, however if you feel there is something that needs to be brought to their attention go straight to Agent Yuy or if he is unavailable for any reason, Agent Maxwell."_

_Duo made a noise half between a laugh and a sigh, "Yeah, as if Heero's ever unavailable when the Princess is concerned."_

_Une ignored him and kept talking, "Agent Yuy is one of the heads of our Security and Intelligence Division, among his duties are overseeing the Foreign Minister's security and personally accompanying her when she is away from secure areas."_

"_Secure areas ma'am?"_

_Une smiled a bit, "Yes well, I should specify that sadly we only consider four places completely secure for her; the Capital Building, which is where her office is, this building and the surrounding compound, which she rarely visits, her brother's home in the Sanq Kingdom, and her own estate outside the city."_

"_Which is where I come in." Duo grinned and pointed to his chest with his thumb._

_His commander just rolled her eyes, "Yes, as I mentioned before Agent Maxwell joined us just two weeks ago to oversee the Foreign Minister's security while she is at her home."_

_Francheska turned to Duo, she supposed she must have looked somewhat surprised because there was an amused look on his face, "So do you have to live there with her?"_

_He laughed good naturedly in response, "Naw, I mean, I'm there sometimes, but she's got a whole 15 man team stationed there all the time, then I've got my three guys. We all rotate being there overnight to oversee the usual 15 guys. Me and Heero have other stuff to be doing in the department and all, so mostly we just keep an eye on stuff."_

"_Agent Maxwell is simplifying a rather complex matter, Miss Biddle; the Foreign Minister actually keeps he and Agent Yuy quite busy, but you get the general idea." She flipped the folder in front of her shut and handed it to Duo, "Agent Maxwell, if you would be so kind as to escort Miss Biddle over to the Medical Division . . ."_

"_Sure thing, Chief."_

"_. . . and then retake your physical while there."_

_The man blanched but stalked out of the door without a word. Once in the elevator however he began ranting about well, everything and didn't stop until they had crossed the compound and entered the double doors of the large building. After presenting ID and signing in the receptionist handed them both doctor's masks before indicating the door behind her._

_Duo slipped the mask over his face, "What's this for?"_

"_You'll see."_

_They didn't see so much as smell; it hit them as soon as they walked through the doors. Francheska's eyes began to water and she was pretty sure she heard Duo start gagging; it was a stench unlike anything she had ever experienced, something between chemicals and old meat. After some colorful curse words, Duo composed himself and began leading her down one of the halls, the smell only getting worse as they went._

_All along the hallway were people in doctor's scrubs and Preventers uniforms running about, some with buckets containing what looked like bags of ice, others pushing seven foot long carts with sheets draped over them; all were wearing masks, some were even wearing goggles._

_Duo stopped as they got to a particularly crowed part of the hallway, an angry voice was yelling over the general noise._

"_Don't tell me that you don't know what I'm supposed to do with this! You shouldn't have people coming over from other departments to help you and then not tell them what do! Find Agent Po right now and tell her I want to see her!"_

_Even with his mask on Francheska could tell Duo was smiling as he approached the yelling man, "Hey Wufei!"_

_The man turned around to face them, "Humph, did they rope you into dealing with this mess too Maxwell?"_

_Duo didn't respond to the question, "Man, what the hell is that smell?"_

_The man who had just been identified as Wufei turned back to the cart he had been trying to maneuver around several large pieces of equipment. "They didn't tell you? The coolant system went down in the entire building; Une pulled everyone from my entire damn department to come over here and help Medical clear out the morgue."_

_Duo's nose wrinkled in disgust, "Well, Special Operations and all, what do you expect?"_

_Wufei just grunted at him, "Give me a hand with this."_

_Duo sidestepped a wayward nurse and joined Wufei; not knowing what else to do Francheska followed him and positioned herself to help them push the cart when a sudden movement from Duo caused the sheet on top to fall to the floor revealing a very pale, very pasty, very cold-looking individual. With a high pitched yelp she jumped back trying to steady herself and regain her composure._

_Duo laughed at her reaction, "You alright there Francheska?"_

_Her heart was still racing, "I-is that man dead?"_

"_I sure hope so or that autopsy's gonna be a bitch." With those parting words Wufei Chang made his way around the corner and out of sight._

_Duo laughed a little too deeply given the current state of the hall they were standing in and began choking; no one around them seemed to notice. The overwhelming stench was starting to get to Francheska, she was beginning to feel lightheaded and was about to suggest to Duo that they just leave when he apparently spotted who they were looking for._

"_Sally! Hey Sally, wait up a sec!" Francheska followed him, carefully negotiating their way around the many objects strewn across the hall way until they reached a woman with brown hair pulled into two braids wearing blood stained white scrubs and a large, heavy looking badge on her chest._

"_Duo?" She sounded surprised but that quickly faded, "Here for a retake? Well, it's going to have to wait, as you can see we've got a bit of a situation."_

"_Yeah, well actually it's Francheska."_

"_Who?" Duo stepped aside to indicate her to the woman who was having a series of clip boards shoved under her nose by a nurse that seemed to appear out of nowhere._

"_Francheska's Relena's new intern or something, Une asked me to bring here and get her physical taken care of."_

_Sally was too busy signing things to actually look at Duo, "Well, it's going to have to wait – "_

"_Hey, doesn't bother me, just make sure you're the one to tell Une about it."  
_

_Sally handed the pile she was holding back to the nurse and rounded on Duo pushing him out of the way. Before Francheska could react, Sally had seized her arm and was taking her pulse, well maybe not so much taking as checking to see if she had one. Next she took a small flash light from her pocket and was holding her eyes open, looking at her pupils, murmuring to herself. "Pulse, evidence of brain activity," she stepped back, "Breathe in," Francheska did, "breathe out," she did, "You're fine."_

_Not waiting for another reason to be held up Duo took Francheska by the arm and began leading them back down the hall towards the lobby. He flung the doors open and ripped the mask off his face, dramatically staggering to one of the chairs. "Aww man, that was horrible." It could have been her imagination but Duo was starting to look a bit green._

"_Agent Maxwell, are you alright?"_

_He didn't respond immediately, after a minute he looked past Francheska to where the receptionist was eyeing him with mild interest, "Where's the bathroom." She smirked knowingly and pointed to the opposite side of the room and without a word Duo stood and bolted to the door labeled 'Men'._

_Francheska sat down and tried to calm her own slightly upset stomach._

"_Francheska Biddle?"_

_She jumped nearly a foot in the air are whipped around to come face to face with the man who had been in the elevator with Duo not 45 minutes ago._

_He made no indication that he even recognized she had been startled. "I'm Agent Heero Yuy, Commander Une sent me to bring you to the Foreign Minister's office."_

_Francheska tried to smile but something about this man was scaring her. "Oh, o-okay."_

_He picked up her briefcase from the chair next to her. "My car is out front, we should get going."_

"_S-shouldn't we wait for Agent Max – "_

_Heero Yuy had already begun to walk to the doors, "He'll figure it out."_

_She followed him outside where he was already putting her bag into the back seat of a black, two door, sleek-looking something or other she noticed had been parked in the fire lane. Unexpectedly he opened the passenger side door for her before crossing in front of the vehicle and getting in his own side. Without a word they were off, sailing out of the Medical and Laboratory Facility's parking lot and through the grounds of the Preventers Bureau's compound. Heero barely stopped to flash his badge as they came to the security check point at the main gate before launching the car out onto the road._

_Heero flawlessly negotiated their way through the considerable amount of traffic; Francheska could barely feel the gears shifting from the car's manual transmission. He never took his eyes off the road and Francheska found herself watching him, fascinated, as they somehow managed to make their way onto the highway in a matter of minutes._

"_Do you know how to drive stick shift?"_

_She turned to him rather quickly, realizing that she must have been staring, blushing a bit. "N-no, I've only just gotten my license. My brother tried to teach me once but I was so bad he was more worried that I was going to ruin his transmission."_

"_I may sign you up to take a driving course at the Academy with the Foreign Minister. It's important that both of you be able to drive whatever is available should a situation arise."_

_She only nodded and tried to think back to what her brother had told her, for some reason she felt the need to come across as competent and possibly impressive to this man._

"_You seem uneasy."_

_Again she found herself blushing, "I'm just nervous I guess . . . when I put in an application for the program I never actually thought that they'd pick me for any of the positions, let alone to work with the Foreign Minister, especially not at my age."_

"_She's only about two and a half years older than you."_

"_How did you – "_

"_I read your file; I also noticed that you'll be doing a secondary major in computer science and programming while you're attending the ESUN University."_

_Francheska had expected this question to come up more than once. The University of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation was a highly competitive institution which accepted only the best and the brightest. Every student that attended was assigned an internship somewhere in the ESUN government and automatically enrolled as a student of government and political science. They were, however, allowed and encouraged to pick up a second field and, needless to say, computer science was not one of the more popular. "I've just always liked computers, they're much more straight forward than people, they only do what you tell them too, there aren't any surprises unless there's a problem, then it's up to you to fix it."_

_It could have been her imagination but she swore she saw the man's mouth curl into the tiniest of smiles. Francheska suddenly realized that they were entering the check point for the Capital Building, the guard that stopped them seemed to know Heero; Francheska reasoned that he must spend a lot of time here._

_After a brief exchange, Heero pulled the car through the gate and off to the left to follow a small road marked "ESUN Personnel". It funneled directly into a large parking garage around the back of the massive building._

"_With those ideas about computers it's odd that you'd want to go into government to deal with some of the least straight forward people out there."_

_Francheska was so taken in by everything she saw she had almost forgotten Heero was there and turned back to face him as he pulled into one of the spots, "I'm not sure that I ever will, I guess that's why I'm here maybe, to see if I'm cut out for all this."_

_Turning off the car, he opened his door and climbed out, when she emerged from the other side she looked up to find Heero looking directly at her, a serious expression on his face. "They wouldn't have chosen you if they didn't think you could do this."_

_She rolled her eyes a little and smiled as she shut her door, "I think that you're just being nice."_

"_I think if you were to ask around you'd find that to be unlikely."  
_

_Francheska suppressed a smile feeling that Heero had not intended what he said as a joke. She followed him through the garage and into the elevator. He wordlessly navigated them through the security checkpoint, to the Capital Building's West Entrance, into the Main Chamber's lobby area (where he had to pause for a moment so that Francheska could stop and stare at the magnitude and grandeur of the massive room) before bringing them up several flights of stairs and into the North Wing. Here, he explained, were all of the offices of the members of the Prime Minister's Cabinet. Francheska couldn't help but notice several of the doors they passed had no name printed on them and boxes stacked up outside, indicating there were new occupants there._

_He finally stopped in front of a large set of hard wood double doors, holding one open for her and allowing her to step inside. There was nothing particularly special about the office suite, but Francheska felt her breath leave her chest. The only person in the elegantly decorated room was a thin, older woman of about 60 perched at her desk which was lined up beside the door. She looked up as Francheska stepped into the room._

"_Can I help – Ah, Agent Yuy."_

"_Mrs. Bolling." He nodded to her, "This is Francheska – "_

"_Oh yes, Miss Biddle!" The older woman stood from her desk to shake her hand and Francheska realized that her own were trembling somewhat, "Well, the Foreign Minister is in a meeting right now – "_

"_Already?" Heero did not sound pleased by this._

"_Yes Agent Yuy, did you really think that once she was allowed to return to work and begin her new post that she'd waste time lollygagging about?"_

"_She's supposed to be taking it easy."_

_Mrs. Bolling's eyes narrowed, but she did not seem angry, "I could say the same of you. As for Miss Peacecraft, she'll be fine, the work is probably good for her at this point." She turned back to Francheska, "If you'd have a seat over there darling, I'll introduce you to the staff once they've finished in there." She indicated a small hallway which Francheska could see a door at the end of. No sooner had the words left her mouth than the door opened and two disgruntled looking people emerged. One of them was a woman in her early thirties, with light brown hair cut in sharp angles which fell perfectly around her heart-shaped face. The man with her appeared to be about the same age but his hair was streaked with gray and he seemed as though he was beginning to bald._

"_How's it going in there?" Mrs. Bolling didn't even look away from her computer screen._

_The man leaned against one of the walls and rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "It's the her first meeting with the opposition party Edith, how do you think it's going?"_

"_That good huh?"_

_The woman stepped off to a door in the side of the room and Francheska heard the distinct sounds of coffee being made, "She's starting to get that look in her eyes like she's thinking of ways to kill herself."_

"_Hn." Heero had taken up a position in the corner of the room and was reading a newspaper._

_The woman emerged from the side room, mug in hand and stopped, apparently just noticing Francheska for the first time, but Mrs. Bolling beat her to the question she was about to ask. "Lindsay, Lansing, this is Francheska Biddle, she's the new Personal Aide to the Foreign Minister."_

_The light of comprehension dawned on both of their faces and they moved to greet her. The slightly balding man made it there first, "Francheska, I'm Lansing Bainbridge, the Press Secretary for the Foreign Minister. This is Lindsay Garrison, she's our Communications Director." _

_Lindsay shook her hand. "Well then, welcome aboard; it will be great to have you, Relena's constantly working herself too hard, hopefully you'll be able to alleviate some of that for her."_

_Francheska found herself nodding dumbly when all of a sudden a great deal of yelling erupted from the room in the back._

"_Miss Peacecraft, this is not going to get any of us anywhere we need – "_

"_I know exactly what we need Representative! I'm the one who wrote the proposal! Just because you're never listening when other people are talking doesn't mean that no one else is!"_

"_I know that you're listening to me, you're just not understanding me!"_

"_No, I'm disagreeing with you. That doesn't mean I'm not listening to you or understanding what you're saying. I'm doing all three at the same time! There is absolutely nothing in this proposal that can't be reasonably accomplished, but your office will refuse to support it based on party lines alone and that is something that I cannot tolerate!"  
_

"_This is politics Minister, you know better than anyone – "_

"_What I know, Representative is that I'm trying to find a way to make peace here, and when I do you can go on TV and explain to everyone why you're opposed to it!"_

_The door was flung open and the sound of high heels stomping against wood could be heard fast approaching. In a flurry of manila folders and blond hair, Foreign Minister Relena Peacecraft blew into the room. "Edith, get the Deputy Prime Minister's office and set-up a meeting with her for me as soon as possible, we need to discuss what her definition of 'complete support' is when used to describe our opposition. Lindsay, come up with a draft of a statement for the press explaining the delay in passing the Soldier's Amnesty Act, be sure to use as many synonyms of the words 'obstinate' and 'manipulative' as possible, Lansing, I want that statement distributed before noon today, Heero, if you're here to keep nagging me you can just leave, Edith, don't let him near my office!" And with a slamming door she was gone._

_The room fell completely silent, and Francheska slumped against the wall next to Lansing, "I just want to die."_

_He smiled in a twisted sort of way as he stood and made his way towards the hallway, "It's this building, you'll get used to that feeling."_

_Edith stood from her desk and walked to where Francheska was still in a state of shock, "Come with me dear, we'll go introduce you, not you Agent Yuy!" She glanced back to where Heero had started to stand from his chair, he sat back down looking highly agitated. Edith guided her through the hallway Relena had just disappeared into and knocked lightly on the door._

"_I said not now Heero!"_

_Edith sighed and pushed open the door to reveal a large, sunny, office. Against the back wall sat a tiny woman sifting through a mountain of paperwork at a frightening pace. "Miss Foreign Minister?"_

_Her head snapped up, "Oh, sorry Edith, I thought – "_

"_Minister, this is Francheska Biddle."_

_The woman's face instantly softened into a warm smile, "Miss Biddle, of course." She stood and walked around her desk to shake her hand and Francheska was surprised to discover how petite the woman was. "I am so very sorry, in all the fuss and confusion of today I managed to completely forget that you would be arriving this morning. Thank you, Edith." The older woman quietly shut the door behind her and Relena stepped back behind her desk._

"_Well then, welcome. I apologize for the frantic pace, I'm trying to get a bill pushed through to Parliament before the end of term next month granting amnesty to those who fought in the war, sadly I believe I will only be able to get enough support if the bill applies only to those who were legally soldiers under ESUN's definitions. The rest they consider rouges, vigilantes, and terrorists . . . Tell me, did you know anyone who fought in the war, Francheska?"_

_She considered for a second how much she should divulge but decided to be as honest as she could with her new boss, "My brother fought with OZ Special Forces ma'am."_

_Relena nodded pleasantly, "And would you consider him a murder?"_

_The question took her off guard, "N-no! Of course not ma'am," She could feel her face getting red, "He fought for what he believed in, and well, he did a good job! Maybe what OZ did wasn't the best way, but the Alliance wasn't any better and at least my brother was able to try to do something about it! But the war's over now! We can't keep going back and holding people accountable for what they did in a different time and place when the whole world was in chaos . . . war changes the rules."_

_Relena gave her a genuine smile, "I'm glad to see that we're like minded in that respect." She picked up several folders from her desk and handed them to her, "These are the bi-laws which layout the procedure for having definitions and titles changed within the ESUN Laws and code; let's see if you could come up with a outline detailing for me how I can go about having their definition of 'soldier' expanded."_

"_Change the definitions, ma'am?"_

_The look on her face was a sly and coy one, "Expand upon them, Francheska. The word 'change' tends to frighten politicians. Edith will show you to your desk and get you set up."_

_Francheska smiled for the first time since she had woken up this morning, happy to see that her boss had a sense of humor. "Yes ma'am." She turned to walk out the door but Relena's voice stopped her._

"_Francheska, never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed individuals can change the world, do you know why?"_

"_Because it's the only thing that ever has, ma'am."_

- - - - -

It had been almost five years since she had first met Relena Peacecraft; even though she had been missing for three and a half of them, Francheska still thought of her mentor everyday. No one had ever impacted her life the way Relena had, she did not believe that anyone ever would again. When she had disappeared, Francheska had felt lost. She had stayed on with the rest of the staff for four months, trying to help Patrick House as he took over Relena's position, but it had never been the same. When she had told them she was dropping out of the program to enroll in the Preventer's Academy none of them had been surprised, not even herself.

She squinted her eyes and watched the line of Preventers and L-10 soldiers disembarking the plane, easily spotting the three men she was waiting for. Heero was the first to catch sight of her and the other two followed him to the van. She smiled as they approached; she couldn't pretend that she wasn't happy to have her boss back to settle the chaos that had become their department.

He looked somewhat surprised to see her, "Francheska – "

"Get in, they'll explain."

Heero raised his eyebrows but silently climbed in, Duo and Wufei right behind him as Francheska went back to the driver's side. Once they had the door closed Heero realized they were not alone in the back of the van.

"Quat! Dorothy! What are you guy's doing here?" Duo's jetlag was not so much that he could not manage to sound happy to see the couple.

"Commander Une is having me bring you guys directly to another plane that's bringing you straight to the Sanq Kingdom." Francheska was leaning through the window that separated the driver from the passengers.

"What?! Come on, I've been awake for like 24 hours straight!" Duo let his head fall back against the seat in an overly dramatic manner.

"You can sleep on the flight there Maxwell." Wufei, however sounded exasperated and exhausted by the notion of having to leave Brussels immediately again.

Heero turned his attention back to Quatre and Dorothy, as Francheska slid the window shut and began driving. They both looked tired; clad in jeans and loose fitting sweaters, they were wearing possibly the most casual clothes Heero had ever seen either one of them in and were looking somewhat disheveled. "What's wrong?"

Quatre sighed at the notion of being found out so quickly, "I'm sorry for surprising you like this, we've only just arrived back from the colonies half an hour ago ourselves; but we have some news and well, I believe that the Oprichniki may be tailing me now, it would have been hard for me to get into head quarters undetected, Miss Biddle was kind enough to offer her assistance."

Heero and Wufei nodded, Duo looked like he was trying to keep his eyes open as Quatre continued, "Several of my sources have indicated that Josef may be trying to build something in outer space."

Heero sat bolt upright, "In which one of the clusters?"

"That's the issue," Dorothy jumped in, "It doesn't look like any of them."

Heero's face remained calm, but Wufei did not hide his disbelief as well, "That's impossible, you can't build something in space outside one of the Lagrange Points."

Duo lifted his head, "A what now?"

"A Lagrange Point, Maxwell!" Wufei rolled his eyes, "Didn't you ever study physics?"

Duo just shrugged and Wufei looked as though he was about to launch into an explanation, but Heero beat him to it. "A Lagrange Point is a specific area in relation to a two body orbital system – "

"Like say, Earth and the Moon?" Duo asked.

Heero nodded, "In one of those systems there are five points where a small body, left to free float, can be stationary relative to the two larger objects, like the colonies are."

Quatre leaned forward, "That's why the clusters are where they are, those five Lagrange Points are the only places near Earth where there is exactly the right amount of centripetal force from the gravitational pull of Earth and the Moon to allow the object to rotate with them, rather than around them."

"And it looks as though Josef is starting to build some sort of station but none of the five clusters have seen anything, or received any indication that it could be within their Point.", Dorothy concluded with a tone of bitterness in her voice.

"Is it a ship then?"

Quatre looked back at Heero, "I don't believe so, I've been in regular contact with all the major suppliers who could fill orders for something of this magnitude. They're the ones who tipped me off to this development in the first place, but from the lists of orders they've received whatever this thing that is being constructed is, it's too big to just be a ship. Additionally, he's not ordering any sort of navigation related parts or equipment."

Duo tried to stifle a yawn, "So we have no idea what Josef's doing then?"

Dorothy shook her head, "No, the bastard's definitely a step ahead of us. What I came here to ask was whether or not we think it would be wise for me to share this information with the members of ESUN."

Before any of them could answer the van came to halt and Francheska slid the window open again, "We're at your terminal guys."

Heero nodded to her and gestured to give them one more minute and she closed the window again as he Duo, and Wufei began gathering their bags again. He looked back to Quatre and Dorothy, "Don't tell ESUN yet, we don't want it somehow get back to Josef that we're on to him before we even know for certain what he's doing."

Quatre didn't look quite happy with this answer, but Dorothy cut him off before he had a chance to speak, "My thoughts exactly," she glanced out the window, "You had better leave before someone notices that we're here, we may have been followed."

Without another word they wrenched the side door opened a clamored out, silently waving goodbye to their two friends. As soon as they had shut the door behind them, Francheska rolled down the window, "That plane will take you straight to the Sanq Kingdom," she pointed behind them, "Mr. Peacecraft is waiting for you at the palace, Une said she'd be along later tonight so that you can brief her on the mission."

She rolled the window up just as Duo shouted for her to keep an eye on Jimmy for him until he got back; she smiled in acknowledgement from the other side of the glass and pulled away as the three men walked towards their awaiting aircraft.

- - - - -

Heero rolled his shoulder trying to work some of the kinks out as he stepped out of the car that had met them at the airport and taken them to the Sanq Kingdom's palace. He had tried to sleep on the plane, but for some reason was met with limited success. Wufei and Duo joined them on the walkway of the massive building as their driver got out of the vehicle and began removing their bags from the trunk. "Mr. Peacecraft is waiting for you inside, sirs."

With a nod of thanks the three men started up the grand stairs, pausing to show their badges to the small cluster of guards stationed in the front of the building. Once inside they were directed down one of the larger halls to a wing Heero knew contained Zech's private offices. They had barely closed the doors to the massive hall when an angry voice erupted from behind them.

"You son of a bitch!"

Heero looked to his left to see Zechs striding towards him, fast. Wondering what he possibly could have done now, he braced himself for the coming onslaught; but to his surprise Zech's fist landed on the side of Wufei's head. Being caught totally unprepared the Chinese man staggered back now holding his jaw as blood trickled out of his mouth.

Heero and Duo both stood in shock not knowing what to do or say. Finally Heero moved over to Wufei and offered him an arm to lean on while Duo rounded on Zechs who was seething in Wufei's direction and breathing heavily, "What the hell was that for?!"

"That son of a bitch -"

"Have you gone insane?!"

"Shut up both of you!" Noin had appeared in between them and silenced the yelling match. Wufei and Heero stood just in front of her, which was apparently still too close as her hand shot out towards Wufei, this time connecting with his nose. Even Zechs looked taken back; it was well known that Noin was more than formidable, but no one had ever seen this side of her. Wufei's hand did not even make it up to his own face before he fell on his side. Heero made no attempt to catch him nor to stop the now red-faced Lucrezia as she approached the man lying prone on the floor.

"You bastard!! You sick bastard!!!" she screamed at him in a deranged sort of way none present would have ever imagined her capable of; her eyes were quickly getting red and beginning to water but she did not stop, "She's alive! She's been alive all this time and you knew!"

The words hit Heero like a ton of bricks; his blood ran cold and his head suddenly felt light. He glanced over at Duo who, if possible, now looked even more shocked than before. The groan from the floor brought them back; Wufei had raised one arm to grab hold of the table above his head in an effort to pull himself up. It was a valiant attempt, but with another groan followed by a painful sounding thud as his head hit the marble floors, Agent Chang was rendered unconscious.

This, however didn't phase Noin who looked like she was about to go in for more with Zechs right behind her. Duo leapt in front of his indisposed comrade, putting a hand up to Zech's chest. "Whoa Zechs, come on man, he's out cold."

Heero was in no mood to reason with them, he wanted answers; reaching over Duo, he turned Noin towards him. "Who were you talking about?"

Zechs threw him a look of shocked disgust as if to ask if he was really that stupid. "Who do you think? Relena!" he practically spat.

With his suspicions confirmed Heero's arms dropped from where they had been holding Noin's shoulders, Duo too had lowered his hand from Zechs. Glancing behind him, Heero looked over his unconscious friend from head to toe, thousands of question erupted in his head at once. He tried to formulate in his mind what to say but his head was swimming, racing with too many thoughts to even begin to sort try sorting them out. Above all of them however, on question pushed itself to the front: Did he dare hope that it was true? Zechs and Noin certainly seemed to think so. Composing himself, he turned back to the couple, his voice deadly sounding. "Slowly, tell me what you're talking about."

There was something that sounded like a deranged snicker from Zechs, "Now why would we tell you when we could show you?" Reaching into his pocket he produced a torn envelope and from that, a small data memory stick. He turned, indicating that they should follow him; jerking his head towards Wufei he snorted, "And bring him, I want to hear what he has to say when he wakes up." Noin looked at Wufei's prone form on the floor with an expression of pure venom. Zechs put his hand on his wife's shoulder and began leading her down the hall towards the stairs.

As they walked away, neither Heero nor Duo said anything. Duo looked in Heero's direction; his thoughts were racing a mile a minute, so Heero's head must have been about ready to explode. His friend looked pale, there were traces of sweat on his brow, and his eyes were vacant.

"Heero, you don't think . . ."

Heero made no indication that he had even heard Duo speak. Not knowing what else to do he closed the short distance between them and shook his shoulder gently. "Heero buddy, come on." Still no reaction. "Heero look, we won't know one way or the other unless we go see what Zechs wants to show us."

He still did nothing.

Duo knelt down besides the Chinese man on the floor and pulled one of his limp arms over his shoulder, heaving his weight on to his side. "Heero, a little help here buddy?"

Finally snapping out of his daze, Heero mindlessly obliged taking Wufei's other arm while noting the puddle of blood that remained on the floor where his head had just been. Despite his anxiousness he was suddenly overcome with an inexplicable feeling of dread, for some reason he was terrified to see what Zechs had to show them. What would it reveal? Would this only confirm that it was in fact him that had failed her, that had allowed her to be taken? And what could Wufei possibly have to do with any of this?

He walked down the hall to where Noin and Zechs had just left for in complete silence. As they entered the room Heero noticed that his hands were clammy and shaking, his heart was racing, and he was beginning to feel flushed and warm.

They settled into Zechs' private office, positioning Wufei in one of the chairs next to the window. Heero and Duo walked to where Zechs was plugging the memory stick into his laptop. A few beeps and whirring noises later they were staring at a frozen screen of the security camera placed outside Relena's room in the Peacecraft Manor. The time stamp in the bottom of the screen read '21:07 PM, 08/23/199'.

Heero felt a rush of annoyance and confusion; he had seen this before, he had it memorized, there was nothing there. He'd watched it dozens, probably hundreds of times, frame by frame, each time hoping something would be different but it always remained exactly the same.

It was as though Zechs could read his mind, "Just give it a minute, this isn't the part we're interested in." He clicked something on the remote and the video began to play at a slightly accelerated rate. Just like every other time before this one Relena appeared from the left side of the screen carrying her brief case, she pushed the door open and went inside, closing it behind her.

The tape sped up a bit, through the parts Heero knew were only images of her door. As it slowed down again Wufei walked onto the screen, stopping in front of Relena's door to knock, and this time too there was no answer. Again Heero watched Wufei wait for a moment and then knock on the door a second time, this time a little harder. There was no sound on the video but it was obvious that he was yelling to her. Then he was pounding on the door, then he pushed it open and went inside. Again the screen was empty for thirty-three seconds before Wufei burst out of the still open door, radio in hand, speaking to the security team on the other end.

Again he left in the direction of the stairs, then turned back and went to Zech and Noin's room. One minute and forty-eight seconds later three pairs of legs, one clad in standard issue Preventer's boots, one in gray sweat pants, and one covered by a long robe, marched through the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

Again, there was an interval of five and a half minutes during which various other sets of legs and occasionally the people attached to them made their way across the camera's field of vision as they walked the length of the hallway. And here again, twenty-three minutes and forty-five seconds after the last person had crossed the screen, Sally's team emerged from the direction of the stairs and entered Relena's room and the rest of the tape became irrelevant.

Heero waited for Zechs to stop the tape and explain what this was all about, but to his surprise the video continued to play and the older man made no indication he was planning to do anything but allow it to continue. He glanced towards Duo who wore a similar expression of confusion but Zechs waved his hand towards the screen and only muttered "Watch closely."

So they did. Neither of them had ever actually watched past the lab technicians entering the room, well not paid attention to it anyway; there was no need to, someone had been either in Relena's chambers or just outside of it the entire time.

The tape slowed down as Sally's team approached the door and stopped; she was saying something to the seven other technicians, instructions most likely, but Heero was unable to read their lips with the masks covering their faces. They entered the room and tape sped up, slowing once again as the door opened and four of the technicians walked out of the room. A second later his own image became visible coming in from the right, pushing aside several of the white clad people in order to get through the door.

Duo watched these events unfolding with growing confusion; what could any of this have to do with Relena not actually disappearing that night. It was very clear that she had not left the room prior to Wufei's arrival, nor after it, and from that point on the room had been filled with people going over every inch of it. Even if she was trying to hide she couldn't have.

Duo snapped out of his thoughts as the tape, which had begun to speed up again, slowed to reveal Heero walking out of the room and stopping outside the door. Heero knew this was when he had paused for a moment to consider Zechs, who was sitting just out of view of the camera. The lab tech that had found the blood on the bathtub left Relena's room behind him and dashed down the steps with his evidence in hand.

As he walked away the video continued on to where Noin joined her husband, and a few seconds later on the fast forward when Heero again appeared, this time with Une right behind him; and he, Une, Zechs, and Noin walked to Zech's office. Wufei appeared, heading towards the office a moment later.

The images on the screen suddenly lurched forward, covering around ten minutes in a few seconds. When its normal speed resumed the door to Relena's room was opening again, this time the remaining three lab technicians emerged, each carrying a large metal case or a piece of equipment; one of them Heero recognized as the nervous young woman he would later scream at in front of the manor. They stood outside the door and a moment later Sally came out of the room and pulled the door shut behind her. They were speaking but again their masks obscured their faces and Heero could not read their lips.

All four of them headed in the direction of the steps and suddenly the screen went black. Heero and Duo both waited for a moment; finally Zechs turned to them, "Well I take it that both of you missed it then."

Heero was starting to get annoyed now. "Do you have something to show me or not? I'm not in the mood to play guessing games."

Zechs gave a mirthless laugh, "Relax Yuy, I had to watch it over a dozen times before I picked it out." His voice was dry, almost as if delivering the punch line of a joke he didn't really find funny. "Fortunately for the two of you I've made it a bit easier."

He clicked the remote in his hand again and the screen changed to a still shot from the video; it was Sally and the seven lab technicians entering. The picture changed to the four Heero had pushed out of the way exiting. The next was the lone tech leaving the room just after him with the evidence sample. He clicked the remote one last time and displayed an image of Sally and the last three lab techs standing outside the door.

It suddenly clicked in his mind as it must have in Duo's as well; the man standing next to him let out a small gasp and practically screamed, "There's an extra person in there!"

Heero couldn't speak, he could hardly comprehend what he was seeing in front of him but the evidence was indisputable. Eight technicians had entered the room, nine came out. He whipped himself around to face Zechs, "What the hell is this?!"

Zech's eyes were still focused on the screen in front of them. He said nothing, but extended his arm to point to one of the people on the screen. Heero knew what was coming and silently pleaded with his subconscious to let it be anyone but her. Before Zech's finger even reached the mark he knew which one it would be; he felt the blood drain from his face and his worst fears were confirmed as the tip of the older man's pointer finger came to rest on the image of that nervous little lab tech.

"This is Relena."


	11. Hidden in Plain Sight

Okay, so here it is, Chapter 11, all of the stories secrets, (okay well not all of them, but all of the Relena-related ones) will be revealed. So sorry for taking so long to get this one up after leaving everyone hanging like that, but this is the longest chapter I've written yet and I needed to make sure that everything lined up exactly right. One thing that I want to immediately clarify: This is a very flashback heavy chapter, but all of the flashbacks are all in chronological order, there is no jumping around.

On a different note, thank you so much for all the reviews, (we broke the 100 mark!!!). I can't tell you how happy it makes me that people are enjoying this story so much. But enough of my blabbering, onto what you're actually here for . . .

Occam's Razor

Chapter Eleven – Hidden in Plain Sight

Tynan

The world fell apart around him. As far as he could tell it no longer existed, all that continued on were him and the image on that screen. Somewhere off in the distance, through the fog that obscured his mind, someone was crying, but he didn't care. The rest of the image began to fade away as well until all that was left was solitary figure of that lab tech, Relena.

It had been her that whole time. How many times he had encountered her that night he couldn't remember, but she had literally slipped through his fingers, and apparently of her own accord.

She had left them, left him, of her own free will.

For nearly three and a half years now he had convinced himself that it was his own carelessness, selfishness, and distraction that had caused her to be taken; that he had been too consumed by his own problems and failed her as a result. But this was not the case and the evidence was displayed in front of them; she had not been taken, she had left and Wufei had helped her. He had been the only one to actually go into her room that night before Sally's team; he had known that she was still in there . . .

A slow movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and brought him abruptly back to reality. In the chair by the window Wufei was sitting himself up. Immediately, four heads turned in his direction, each wearing a different expression; sadness, rage, confusion, and betrayal played across their faces. For the first time in his memory, Heero was too stunned to react to anything going on around him; this was not the case for all of them.

With a short yell and a flurry of brown hair Duo flew across the room and seized the barely conscious man by the collar of his jacket, pulling him out of his chair and slamming him into the wall. "You knew this whole time?!" His voice was almost unearthly, displaying his feelings anger and treachery in a way Heero never would have thought possible from his best friend. "You knew this whole time that Relena was alive and you let this happen?! You watched what happened to the rest of us and never said anything?!! You sat there and saw us lose our minds over this –" he pushed into the wall again, harder this time, "You saw Zechs and Noin leave to go find her, and the woman you love cry and not leave her lab for days at a time trying to find a lead, and Hilde going out of her mind and you never said anything?!?" Duo's voice continued to get louder as he lifted Wufei off the ground and slammed him against the wall so hard it knocked one of the pictures off, "You watched them haul Heero off to a mental ward and lock him away for weeks because he was going insane over losing her and you just let it happen?!?! You helped her leave and let us think that she was dead!!! – "

Duo stopped abruptly at a hand gently pulling his shoulder back. Turning around he came face to face with Heero. His eyes were unlike anything Duo had ever seen before; the usual vibrant blue color had seemed to almost fade away, replaced by a dead looking hue surrounded by red veins.

Subconsciously, Duo let Wufei slip back to the ground and turned to face Heero, he was about to speak when the Japanese man stepped right up to Wufei's face and in a barely audible voice demanded: "Explain."

Wufei lifted his head up from his chest meeting Heero's eyes for the first time. He nodded and gestured that Heero should step back, which he did, allowing Wufei to walk back to where he had just been seated. Zechs and Noin silently joined Heero and Duo, who couldn't help but notice hat Noin had begun crying again.

Zechs stepped forward menacingly, "I want answers Chan –"

Wufei cut him off with a simple nod and held up his hand indicating that he needed a minute; on some level Zechs could understand why. The entire left side of his face was splattered with dried blood, his nose was most likely broken, and both of his eyes were beginning to swell, all this in addition to the massive lump that was most likely forming on the side of his head.

Scanning the room, quickly caught sight of the pitcher of water situated on one of the counters running along the side of the room. Without a word he stood with some difficulty, swaying a bit in place before making his way over to the pitcher, tearing off a piece of his t-shirt as he went and soaking it in the clear liquid. As he made his way back he began to wipe some of the blood from his face, then folded the cloth in square and held it to the side of his head.

He sat down and spoke for the first time. "You may want to have a seat, this is going to take a while." Neither Duo nor Heero made a move, but Zechs pulled up the chair from his desk and set his still hiccupping wife in it. Wufei waited for them before continuing, "I'll start from the beginning – "

"Chang, I swear to God –"

"I will tell you everything, Zechs –"

"You'll tell me right now where the hell she is!"

Wufei shook his head a bit, probably to try and shake off the concussion he most likely suffered, "No, you need to hear everything."

Zechs sputtered for a minute, clearly about to begin yelling again, but his wife's voice stopped him, "Fine, then tell us everything."

Wufei nodded solemnly and began, "When I signed on to Preventers five years ago, my first position was given to me directly by Une; she temporarily put me in charge of Relena's security detail until a suitable replacement could be found," he waved a hand at Heero, "it was during this period, back in January of 197, my time with Relena, that all of this started."

- - - - -

_Wufei couldn't help but be slightly annoyed as he made his way through the capital building. He was only supposed to have to deal with Relena when she was in need of her security team, and when she was at work in her office was not one of those times. He told himself over and over again that this was only a temporary assignment before he could get on with some real work._

_Resigning himself to the situation, Wufei signed in with her secretary who directed him to her office. He knocked lightly on the Vice-Foreign Minister's door, why she needed to see him about so urgently was beyond him, but here he was. She called for him to enter and to his surprise found not only Relena, but Commander Une waiting for him as well. Relena smiled pleasantly at him and gestured for him to take the seat next to Une, which he did._

_The confusion must have been evident on his face, because Relena immediately launched into an apology, "I'm very sorry to call you away from your office so early Agent Chang –"_

"_It's fine," he lied ". . . what is this about?" His first thought was that something must have happened, a new threat had been made against the Peacecraft girl and he would have to do something about it._

"_Nothing that would be endangering the Vice-Foreign Minster, Agent Chang," Une answered for Relena, "We've asked you here because we are hoping that you will be willing to lend your assistance to, well sort of a project."_

_Wufei raised a questioning eyebrow, but to his surprise, Une stood and walked towards the door, "Well then, I'll leave the both of you to discuss this matter."_

_As soon as the door closed behind her, Wufei rounded on Relena, "Are you going to tell me what this is about?"_

_She nodded and took a sip of her tea, "Would you like anything to drink?" He shook his head, "I apologize for all the cloak and dagger nonsense, but what I'm about to suggest to you is very sensitive."_

"_So sensitive that the Commander of the Preventers Bureau can't be informed of it?"_

_Again she nodded, "I'll get straight to the point, Agent Chang. Commander Une and I are both concerned about you and the other pilots."_

"_Because under ESUN law we'd be considered war criminals."_

_Relena smiled sadly, "Yes. Obviously I am very worried about all of you personally and what could happen to should any of you ever be exposed . . ."_

_Wufei knew what she meant; he, Quatre, Trowa, Duo, and Heero, especially Heero, had all committed acts that ESUN saw as crimes against humanity. They had taken thousands of lives and brought about so much instability that for nearly a year the Earth sphere had been locked in the turmoil of dueling governments. While it was true that in the end their actions had served to better the lives of the people on Earth and in the colonies, the means by which they accomplished this could not be ignored. If their identities were ever brought to light, they would be charged with countless crimes and most likely executed at the end of it._

"_. . . but Commander Une and I are also uneasy about the impact upon ESUN that could take place should your identities be revealed."  
_

_He nodded in agreement, having never really given the matter much though, "It could potentially destroy this fragile peace." He leaned back in his chair, "So why do you need me for this?"_

_Relena set her tea down and sat forward, resting her forearms on her desk, "As of right now, you are the only one of the pilots in a position within the government. I'm hoping that you would be willing to work with me to ensure that none of you are ever exposed to the public."_

_Wufei raised his eyebrows in a disbelieving manner, this was certainly not what he had expected to happen at this meeting, "And keeping myself and the others a secret is going to be the responsibility of just the two of us?"_

"_I went to Une to ask her permission for this little project, but that's all that I wanted from her. If something should happen and it comes to light that there was an effort to keep the Gundam pilots from being brought to justice –"_

"_You want her to have complete deniability." he finished for her, but a thought struck him, "And what about yourself, can ESUN really stand to have the Vice-Foreign Minister brought down by a scandal involving her personal ties to several mass murders?"_

_Her face was suddenly set in hard resolve, "It's a chance that I'm more than willing to take. In order for the five of you and my brother to be kept safe there must be someone on the political end making sure that no one goes looking for you and keeping any information that may arise concerning your identities well hidden." _

_She stood from her seat and walked to the front of her desk to stand in front of him, "But I also need someone who can keep an eye on things outside the political arena, someone with access to the intelligence information that will be coming in and out of the Preventers Bureau. The government isn't the only one who might be after all of you, I need a person who I can trust to have the best interests of your group at heart. To be truthful, I hoping that we'll never need to talk about this again, so long as we both do our parts, we should be able to quell any potential situations that may arise . . . if you agree to help me that is."_

_He felt puzzled by her proposal for some reason despite the fact that she was making perfect sense, "Miss Peacecraft –"_

"_Wufei please, Relena's fine."_

"_Relena, then" he emitted, slightly exasperated. "Why have you come to me of all people with this? Your brother or Heero, or Quatre, Noin, even Maxwell, one of them could do this kind of job." _

_She smiled in a shrewd way, "Because of all the people you just named, I know that you're the only one who is objective enough to help me accomplish what needs to be done rather than what they think should be done." She set her cup of tea down a looked at him resolutely, "You'll protect ESUN and the established peace, before you'll protect me."_

- - - - -

"So wait," Duo's anger appeared to be replaced with confusion. "You and Relena had been making sure that no one finds out that who the Gundam pilots were for like over five years now and you never told any of us about this."

Wufei sighed to himself knowing that he was going to have to answer a lot of these kinds of questions before the day was done, "It was on her orders, not mine. As I said, the mission was classified and there was no reason for any of you to know about it."

Zechs, however did not seem amused but it was Heero who had the outburst, "Are you going to explain how all of this traces back to Relena leaving?" Even as the words escaped his mouth he wished he could take them back; a part of him was not ready to verbally admit that Relena had left rather than been taken.

Wufei stood and walked back to the pitcher of water, pouring himself a glass and leaning against the bookshelf as he took a sip, "I'm going to, but you need to understand everything." He set the cup down and continued, "As I said, Relena first came to me with this back in January of 197 and the subject didn't come up again until September of the following year, 198 . . . right after she became the Foreign Minister."

- - - - -

_He spotted her immediately as he walked through the door of the tiny, but crowded pub where he had told her to meet him. She was seated all the way in the back, an untouched drink in front of her. He had known even before catching sight of her that something was very wrong, but seeing her now only made clear to him how grave the situation must have been._

_He silently took the seat opposite from her, their waitress was there in a heartbeat and he ordered a beer despite the fact that he didn't really want it. When she finally looked up from where she had been staring at the table he saw that her eyes were bloodshot and dark circles had formed underneath of them._

"_What happened?"_

_She didn't say anything, she only reached down to pull her briefcase onto her lap, extracted a large, flat envelope that had been addressed to her, and was torn open; she handed it to him._

_Wufei tilted the brown container on its side and several glossy pieces of paper fell into his hand. Turning them over his heart stopped at the sight of the first one. It was slightly grainy, no doubt from being blown up from whatever security camera it had been taken off of, but it was very clear what it portrayed. Relena Peacecraft, probably some two years ago, greeting two men stepping off a plane . . . a much younger Heero Yuy and Quatre Winner._

_Speechless he flipped to the next one, Heero and Relena wearing matching school uniforms of some sort, dancing at a party. Relena and Quatre walking down a hall he recognized as belonging to the palace of the Sanq Kingdom. Heero and Relena, both in space suits floating in a dock of some kind in space, Wing barely visible behind them. Heero standing outside his Gundam, self-detonation trigger held in his hand, extended out in front of his body. Duo after being arrested and led through the streets of one of the colonies, his own sword fight with Treize Khushrenada, Trowa climbing onto Heavy Arms somewhere in a desert, Heero pulling himself out of the wreckage of his Gundam outside the now destroyed bunker at the Prime Minster's home in Brussels. Wufei paused, needing to take a moment to comprehend what he was seeing._

"_Keep going." Her voice was soft, but demanding as she spoke for the first time since he had sat down._

_Dreading what could possibly be next, Wufei continued on to the next picture and felt his breath leave his chest. A shot taken directly from one of the security cameras in Preventers Head Quarters stared back at him; Heero and Relena walked down a hall together, even from the overhead angle, Heero's badge could still clearly be seen on his chest. The time stamp in the lower right hand corner dated the picture for just last year. The next picture was even more damning, Heero and Duo sitting in Relena's new office, both obviously wearing their agents jackets, Duo and Relena laughing pleasantly, Heero looking mildly interested; then Relena and Quatre, having lunch somewhere with Dorothy, no doubt on Quatre's home colony. The next was of himself, impatiently following Relena through a crowd of people almost two years ago._

"_These we delivered by courier to my office this morning." her voice was uneven, Wufei didn't think that he had ever heard this woman sound so nervous, "Someone knows."_

_He was speechless; to say someone knew was an understatement, someone had pegged them. These photos were irrefutably evidence that not only did Relena Peacecraft know the identities of the Gundam Pilots during the wars, she had continued to associate and work with them even after they were deemed war criminals. Worse, several of them had taken positions in the government with her knowledge and she never revealed them. "Was this all that was in the package."_

_She started at the sound of his voice, clearly having been lost in her own thoughts, "What do you mean?"_

_He didn't respond right away, thinking how best to phrase his question, "I mean . . . Relena, someone is clearly trying to blackmail you . . . was there a note or a letter demanding anything." She shook her head in reply, "Would you tell me if there was or would you just try and keep this quiet on your own?"_

_Her expression immediately shifted to one bordering on anger, "We're partners in this endeavor Wufei, I wouldn't hide anything from you."_

_He nodded, knowing that she was telling the truth. Relena picked up her martini glass with slightly shaking hands and took a small sip, "What do we do now?"_

_Wufei almost laughed, the situation was practically absurd; what could they do? "We wait, see if they contact you again, maybe whoever this is will explain what they want."_

_He knew what she was going to say before she even said it, "What if what they want is just to expose all of you?"_

"_Then they would have done it already, they wouldn't have sent you pictures to warn you that someone out there knew your past with the Gundam pilots. Whoever these people are Relena, they want something from you." She nodded in silent agreement but still looked apprehensive, honestly he couldn't blame her. He leaned closer to her and lowered his voice, "I know some people, they operate outside the government – they're on our side –" he added quickly at the questioning look on her face, "They support ESUN but they operate under its radar and they're pretty well connected. There isn't a lot that goes on that they don't know about . . . I'll see if I can get in touch with them again, maybe they know something."_

"_They can be trusted with something like this?"_

_Wufei couldn't help but be slightly impressed with the level of paranoia Relena was exhibiting, "Yes, I've worked with them personally many times, they can definitely be trusted."_

"_You'll let me know what they find then?"_

_He nodded slowly, "We're partners in this endeavor, aren't we?" She smiled and wrinkled her nose at the same time at the prodding, "And you'll call me immediately if you receive anything else?"_

_It was her turn to nod as she sat back in her chair and took another sip of her drink._

- - - - -

Heero was fuming, all of this had been going on behind his back. Relena and Wufei had taken it upon themselves to hide him and the others from the public eye and even after they received information that someone knew they had not bothered to tell the people involved, namely him. And somehow, as a result of all this Relena had gone. He looked up from where he had been staring at the floor to glare at Wufei, who answered his question before Heero could ask it.

"Yes, we decided not to tell any of you."

Heero practically growled at him; the torrent of emotions coursing through his body were threatening to explode, but he kept his voice calm, "That wasn't your decision to make."

"Someone was after us and neither of you thought that we should know about it?!" Duo sounded outraged to say the least.

"And what would you have done about it?" Wufei shot back at him sounding forceful for the first time since regaining consciousness, "That's the point here, Relena and I handled it because quite frankly, all of us as a collective group couldn't be trusted to!" He looked from face to angry face, but continued, "Trowa probably could have quietly remained hidden, but the three of us would have had a much harder time." He looked to where Heero was sitting, "We both know that you would have just left without saying a word," he turned to Duo, "You and I could have slipped away too but eventually someone would have managed to track down all three of us." He tilted his head to meet Zechs' eyes, "You and Quatre would have had no where to go."

Zechs closed his eyes and rested his head on his folded hands; Wufei was right, there was no arguing _that_ particular point, "Considering that none of us have been arrested and executed I'm going to assume that you and my sister pulled something off." His voice suddenly took on that deadly sounding quality again, "What does any of this have to do with Relena disappearing?!"

Wufei was clearly beginning to feel the after affects of being knocked out, but Zechs was pretty sure that no one in the room gave a damn; Heero looked as though he might lunge for his friend's throat at any second, Duo was glaring at him from his perch in front of the window, his wife was still quietly hiccupping in the chair next to him, her expression was unreadable. He turned back to Wufei who was now wiping some of the blood off his face again. "Well?"

Wufei set the bit of cloth aside, "Well, obviously that wasn't the end of it. It was about a month and a half later, towards the middle of November, that Relena contacted me again . . ."

- - - - -

_He looked up as the pub's door opened and a young woman, making a somewhat obvious attempt to disguise her identity entered and began scanning the room. He was waiting for her exactly where they had sat over a month ago; she spotted him and immediately made a beeline is her direction. Despite her somewhat obvious behavior, none of the other patrons seemed to take notice of her; her entrance having been drown out by the traditional and vibrant music coming from the pub's cleverly hidden sound system._

_Relena looked pale to say the least; in her hand she was holding a large, brown envelope identical to the one she had presented him with a month ago in the same place. She took a seat opposite him without a word._

_She didn't speak so he took it upon himself to ask the question he already knew the answer to, "They contacted you again?"_

_She let her head dip the tiniest bit in a gesture of affirmation, "More of the same, pictures of you and the others during the war, then some from more recently with me . . ."_

_She was holding something back. "What else?"_

_Relena opened the envelope and removed a piece of folded paper, "They left a note this time." she answered as she handed it to him._

_Instinctually Wufei grasped the letter by one its corners, but in the back of his mind he knew that there wouldn't be any fingerprints on it and there was no sense in reprimanding Relena for not considering this. Carefully he unfolded the paper and began reading, _

_Foreign Minister Peacecraft,_

_We believe that it is fair to say that we have your full attention at this point in time. You may be wondering what exactly it is that we are hoping to obtain from you in exchange for not exposing your secret to the public. The answer is quite simple: You have betrayed the people of ESUN by withholding from them the identities of several mass murders and war criminals. It is the right of the people to bring men like this to justice but after years of adoration and praise from all you encounter you clearly feel that your wants and desires supercede the laws of the government you claim to serve. It is our mission to put an end to politicians such as yourself who corrupt this planet's regime._

_However, Foreign Minister, we are not unreasonable people and acknowledge the good that you have done for ESUN; in light of this we wish to present to you the opportunity to reconcile your transgressions. As previously stated, we desire to work towards a better government and the support of a prominent individual such as yourself would certainly aid our cause. Because of the nature of our mission we obviously do not wish to bring ourselves into the public eye so we will leave you with this parting thought: In exchange for our silence we ask only that you be willing to help and support those who come to you for it . . . even if you do not know why. We will be in touch._

_Yours Most Humbly,_

_The Cambridge Five_

_Wufei set the letter down on the table and looked to where Relena seemed to have grown even more stricken looking, "Well that was . . . dramatic."_

_He paused for a moment so as to not be overheard by the young waitress who brought him his beer. She smiled pleasantly at Relena who ordered a very strong martini; without even a questioning glance the girl spun on her heals and headed towards the bar._

"_They want me to help them . . ."_

"_No, they just want to help themselves." He paused for a moment, thinking through the sheer brilliance of the plan these people had concocted. "I don't know who these people are or what their true motives are but the last thing that they're after is some sort of moral cleansing of ESUN. Whatever they're really after they can't accomplish it on their own, so they want to use you to help them achieve their ends."_

_She dipped her head and would not meet his eyes, "Because I'm in power; they're going to use my influence and power in the government to gain their own . . . and we have no idea what they'll do with it."_

_Wufei closed his eyes and sat back in his chair; he was maintaining his calm as best he could but the situation had taken a horrible turn. It seemed that these people blackmailing Relena were determined to harm the ESUN government one way or another; either they would expose the world's beloved Foreign Minister as knowingly harboring and concealing several men wanted for war crimes, or they would keep their silence but use Relena to accomplish whatever their own agenda was . . . and his gut told him that it couldn't be good._

"_What do we do?" Relena's quiet voice shook him from his thoughts._

_He sat up in the chair and let out a breath he hadn't realized that he'd been holding and ran a hand over his hair. "I don't know . . . I'm still waiting to hear back from those, well I suppose you could call them 'friends' for lack of a better term – "_

"_Who are these 'friends' of yours, Wufei?"_

_Wufei stopped, debating for a moment how much to tell her, "I told you Relena, they're on our side. That's all you need to worry about." His voice was a little sharper than he meant it to be._

_She looked like she was about to argue with him but kept herself from doing so, instead she said something he hadn't even considered, "Do we tell Une about this?"_

_In his haste to begin investigating this personally Wufei had all but completely forgotten about his Commander. "I thought that the idea here was that only you and I would be involved in situations like these."_

_Relena laughed in a sick sort of way, "Honestly, I never really thought that we'd actually have one . . . not like this anyway." She finally turned to look him in the eye, "Wufei, I don't know what to do. Dozens of people come to my office to meet with myself or my staff every week to ask for help or support, it's how the world of politics works. I cannot fathom how I could possibly even begin to distinguish any of these individuals. They could be anyone, lobbyist, businessmen, they could already be serving in ESUN . . . And even if I was able to discover their identity what course of action could I take then? Should I help them and allow them to potentially undermine the government or deny them and risk that they are actually bold enough and desperate enough to expose you and the others?" _

_Wufei let her calm down for a moment; she had not been yelling but seemed almost out of breath when she finally finished. "I think what is most important right now is that we try and discover who these people are and what they are really after . . . I'll get in touch with my, well friends and see if they've come up with anything yet."_

"_And if they haven't?"_

"_The best we can do right now is wait for them to reveal themselves. If they want your help they're going to have to come to you to get it; keep your eyes open for anything even slightly unusual . . . in an operation like this one they're bound to make a mistake sooner or later."_

_She smiled in a sad sort of way, "Let us hope that it is sooner."_

- - - - -

"But it wasn't?"

Wufei shook his head, and immediately regretted it but Heero didn't seem to notice or care. "No, as I said, that was in the middle of November of 198 . . . I was worried, we both were. I began spending as much time as I could trying to track down these people calling themselves The Cambridge Five, but they were obviously well prepared for this and had hidden themselves accordingly.

By the beginning of January I had not uncovered anything about them and I was forced to rely on what information my informants could dig up for me. I put a lot of pressure on them to find something, anything to go off of and they did at great risk to themselves. Despite all their efforts, it was a time consuming process; we didn't see or hear anything that could possibly be connected to them until a month and a half later in the end of February 199 . . ."

- - - - -

_Relena was sitting exactly where he had instructed her to wait for him. The snow was beginning to take on a wet, heavy quality as it fell onto the park and he noted that she must have been sitting on the bench for a good bit of time now as there was a reasonable amount of accumulation on her coat. She stood as she saw him coming and walked to meet him. He never broke his stride and she silently fell in step beside him as they started on the snow covered path that would take them around the park._

_Relena didn't speak; in fairness he had been the one that called the meeting (though she had something to tell him as well), he should be the one to start the conversation. Just as he was about to open his mouth, she beat him to it. "I am beginning to have some suspicions about one of the new Representatives in ESUN."_

_Wufei turned to look at her a little more quickly than he had meant to; this was not what he was expecting to hear, "Someone's come to my attention as a potential member of the Cambridge Five."_

_He couldn't help the expression on his face; he had anticipated that tracking down this group would take a considerable amount of time; but not this long, and he certainly hadn't foreseen that it would be Relena to uncover one of them first._

_He didn't speak and she continued her explanation, "His name is Michael Whitney, he's a Parliamentary Representative for the Central Northern American Region. He's fairly new to ESUN having only been sworn into office less than a year ago. He's young and ambitious . . . and he seems to think that I should be very willing to aid him in these ambitions."_

_Wufei nodded and wordlessly steered Relena towards the left side of the fork in the path, "He'd come out and asked you for help?"_

_She shook her head, "No, not in such a blatant manner however . . . at the risk of sounding arrogant, Michael Whitney has barely been in office for a year, he's certainly in no position to be expecting the direct support of the Foreign Minister's office – "_

"_Unless there's some reason he feels that he's entitled to it." he finished for her._

"_Yes." She paused for a moment to look around as they began to exit the park and walk towards a street that wrapped around the ice covered river but did not question it. "Aside from that fact, I . . . well I suppose something about him," she sighed, "I know it must sound silly –"_

"_It doesn't." he stated abruptly, "After all these years, your instincts are most likely correct, you need to trust them. Give yourself more credit Relena, you're much more shrewd when it comes to situations like this than you realize."_

_Relena stared at him in a way he took to be surprised at the complement he had practically hit her over the head with but he took her expression in stride and continued, "I'll have my people start looking into Michael Whitney, see what they can come up with." He drew in a breath to give himself a moment to consider how best to continue. "In the meantime, we have another problem to deal with."_

_She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to him with a panic stricken look on her face, "They haven't leaked . . ."_

"_No, Preventers hasn't received any information concerning the identities of the Gundam pilots; however my contacts have uncovered some disturbing information in their investigation of The Cambridge Five." She raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner. "They believe that a there is serious threat against your life."_

_Relena looked as though she might laugh, "Wufei, you of all people should know that there are frequently serious threats made against my life. I have my own task force in your office to deal with – "_

"_This one's different Relena." His voice was quiet and deadly sounding, as though trying to convey the seriousness of the situation. "My friends wouldn't have brought it to my attention if they didn't think that it had significant merit." She was looking at them as they walked and he knew that he must be obviously worried. "Unfortunately, they don't have many details as of yet, there is nothing that I can tell Heero, or even Une for that matter."_

"_If they don't have any details, how do they know that it's a serious threat?" Her voice was skeptical sounding._

"_They mean that whoever it is that's threatening you is considered a serious risk; they're still trying to track down who the individual or individuals actually are but from what they can tell so far they are very well connected . . . and they may be operating within ESUN."_

_Her eyes widened as she made the connection in her mind, "You think that they're somehow related to The Cambridge Five?"_

_Wufei half shrugged, "It seems like too great a coincidence and my people agree. For now I'm tipping off Preventers as much as I can; I'll see Heero personally tomorrow and tell him I've heard some rumors, he and his team can start looking into it. In the meantime, you need to be careful . . . more so than usual." He put an arm on her back to steer her through the crowd coming towards them and around the corner onto another street._

_They walked a short distance before arriving at their destination. She looked up at it and turned back to face him; they were standing outside the pub they had frequented in their previous meetings. It was only late morning, the lights were out and the shade drawn over the windows, "Here again? It looks like they're not open yet."_

_He didn't acknowledge her question, "You've been coming here a lot."_

_She smiled a little, "I enjoy the atmosphere; despite the seriousness of our meetings here I find this place comforting."_

"_They've noticed," she looked confused, "the owner, Doyle, his staff, they've noticed you here a lot with your friends and colleagues."_

_Relena raised her eyebrows questioningly, "And what? They call you to tell you that I'm here a lot?"_

_He couldn't help but smirk, "No, they keep an eye on you," she opened her mouth to question him but he continued before she could, "They keep an eye on you because I ask them to. This pub is an outposts used by my informants." He pushed open one of the doors and held it for her to walk through, "You're in a great deal of danger Relena, it's time for you to meet the people that are helping me keep you safe."_

- - - - -

"And you didn't see fit to inform any of us as to these developments?!" Zechs roared at him; Noin put a hand on his leg to stop him from lunging at the Chinese man.

Wufei was steadily losing his patience at having to repeat himself, "I told you already, I passed as much information onto to Security and Intelligence as I knew." To his surprise Heero nodded in affirmation to the group, "The problem was that I didn't have much, if anything specific."

"You could have mentioned that some well connected, high profile people were after Relena and had a real chance at actually killing her." Duo was back to sounding very bitter.

"I'm not going to explain again that there was nothing I could have told anyone that would have assisted in any sort of an investigation. These people were good, better than us – "

"But not better than your friends." Heero stated in a dead pan, but demanding voice.

"No, but it took even them a while. It wasn't until the end of June that we were able to make a break in what was happening."

- - - - -

_Doyle smiled from behind the bar at him as he entered and gestured with his head towards the back of the bar, where Relena must have been waiting. "The usual then Agent Chang?"_

_Wufei nodded and silently joined Relena, already sipping on her usual martini. She did not smile in greeting; he knew that the tone of his voice when he had called her to meet him was enough to tell her that something was very wrong. He did not give her the chance to question him, "My informants have concluded that Michael Whitney is definitely operating within the Cambridge Five."_

_She seemed to take a minute to absorb the information, "He's one of the five then?"_

_Wufei shook his head, "Neither they nor I believe that he a leader of any sort in the group; right now however, they're not even sure if there are actually five leaders or if that's just a name. It doesn't matter though, the point is that Michael Whitney is working with them, or he was at least."_

_She closed her eyes as though in thought and did not speak, leaving Wufei to prompt her, "But he hasn't contacted you lately?"_

_She opened her eyes and sat up completely straight, "No, as I said before, he hasn't attempted to solicit and sort of help or support from my office since February."_

_Wufei sighed and leaned back in his chair, "This is what I was afraid of." Relena sat forward and gestured for him to continue, "Relena, it seems that whatever their original plan was, they've diverted from it. Back in November we believed that they would be blackmailing you to work their way into undermining the government using the help and connections of your office." He paused as the waitress sat a large mug in front of him and waited until she had left before continuing, "However, they haven't pursued this despite the valuable information that they are in possession of and all we've uncovered since then is that someone is working on a very elaborate plan to have you killed._

"_They know who all of the Gundam pilots are and what they're doing now and I have no doubt in my mind that regardless of whether or not you helped them they still planned to expose us and you and use the chaos that would inevitably follow to gain some sort of foothold of power."_

"_But they aren't planning on this anymore?" It was more of a statement than a question._

_He shook his head and took a long swig from the cup in front of him, "Relena . . . they don't need you anymore, not in the way that they did initially. My friends believe that it is the Cambridge Five who are plotting to kill you and are still planning to expose the identities of the Gundam pilots."_

_Relena looked more than slightly confused and maybe a little panicked, "If they're planning to expose them anyway, why go through the trouble of killing me?"_

_Wufei ran a hand across his hair; he had hoped that she would catch on and not force him to explain, "Relena, think about it. The Foreign Minister is killed, murdered in her own home for example. In a matter of days after the murder the identities of the Gundam pilots are leaked to the public and it is revealed that not only do three of them work in top positions in the Preventers Bureau, but two of them directly oversaw the Foreign Minister's security and they allowed her to be murdered on their watch . . . these people would have a field day."_

_Relena was looking considerably paler but her voice sounded almost amused, "You and your informants," she gestured to where Doyle was behind the bar, "think that these people are going to kill me, then frame Heero and Duo for it by exposing them as Gundam pilots?" He didn't answer, and she continued, "At the risk of sounding overconfident, what makes them think that they are going to be able to kill me?"_

_Wufei sat up and looked directly into her eyes, "They're not going to." he stated resolutely. "Now that we know what they're planning we have a distinct advantage. We have the benefit of knowing that in order for this plan of theirs to work they'd have to kill you privately and in a location that Heero and Duo would have uninterrupted access to, that basically eliminates everywhere but your home and office. Heero and his team already know that someone is planning to make a serious attempt against your life; they're ready and waiting."_

_She smiled in a sad but grateful way, "But what do we do about Michael Whitney?"_

"_For now nothing, we need to use him to try and trace back to the rest of the Cambridge Five – " he was cut off as a young woman, thin woman in her early twenties with shoulder length auburn hair and bluish eyes took a seat next to Relena and leaned across the table to clasp his shoulder in a friendly way._

"'_Lo there, you lot! And how are we this fine evening?" _

_Wufei tried not to look too exasperated with Erin, she knew that Relena was here to discuss something important . . . on the other hand Erin was in fact the one passing Wufei the information in the first place. She was now back to talking to Relena, and Wufei was getting the distinct impression that she'd been enjoying Doyle's hospitality a little too much this evening._

"_Lena, luv, I mean it, don't be worrin' that pretty little head o' yours 'bout one little thing. Me mates and I, we'll be trackin' these bastards 'tils we hunt them down and kill every last one of the bleedin' wankers! Here here!!!" She laughed in a gleeful sort of way raising her mug about her head and Wufei could tell that Relena felt Erin's good mood to be contagious. Sighing in defeat he picked up his own drink to clank against Erin's, Relena following suit. Wufei couldn't help but smile at seeing Relena relaxed and in happy conversation with Erin; he worried that soon these already sparse moments would become even rarer._

- - - - -

"And still you didn't tell us?! Tell anyone for that matter?! Relena's life was in serious danger and the two of you saw fit to go up against this group of people that you couldn't even track down?!!" Zechs was now out of his chair, lifting Wufei out of his own by the collar of his jacket.

Wufei slowly reached a hand up to pull Zechs' off him; once free he sat down again and tried to steady his now swimming head. "Judging by your current reaction I can see that we made the right choice."

"You sanctimonious bast – "

"This was Relena's choice to make, Zechs!" Wufei interrupted forcefully, "I already explained to you why we kept this to ourselves. We were both very careful, I made sure that Preventers knew that Relena's life was in more danger than usual, but as I've already said, I didn't have any other information to give them."

Duo, practically launched himself at Wufei but stopped short, "You could have told them that a group of lunatics were blackmailing her and then planning to kill her and frame us for it!"

"Were you not listening earlier, Maxwell when I explained that part?"

Before anyone could stop him, Duo had caused Wufei's nose to begin gushing blood yet again. Taken by surprise, but not render unconscious this time, Wufei saw fit to retaliate hitting Duo square in the eye. Before either of them knew what happened, a dark blur had pushed them apart. Noin stood between the two men, expression still unreadable.

"Finish your story, Wufei. What happened that made her leave?"

Wufei put a hand up to his face to touch his already swollen eye, but otherwise ignored his injuries as he continued, "It was about a month after the last time we had met in the pub, July 29th, I was on my way into work . . ."

- - - - -

_He was practically running down the hall to Relena's office and forced himself to slow down in order to not draw attention to his mad dash through the Capital Building. Her phone call had been brief but frantic: get to her office as soon as he possibly could. He had been on his way into work when she called and had immediately turned around to head back towards the capital building; the whole way his mind was reeling, coming up with every horrible thing that possibly could have happened._

_He pushed open the door to her office suites and found the lobby area empty as she said it would be. Not stopping to look around he marched straight back to her private office; she must have heard his approach as she opened the door before he reached for the handle and ushered him inside. He took a moment to look her over, to say that he had never seen her like this was the understatement of the year; her narrow face was completely white and pasty with a sheen of sweat glistening on her forehead, she was wringing her hand nervously and pacing back and forth in front of her desk, all the while ranting in a somewhat incoherent manner._

"_. . . and I should have known, we said that we could handle it, but apparently we can't, after all these years you'd think that someone like me of all people would know these sort of things by now, but no, I'm too bloody – "_

_Wufei stopped her by taking hold of her shoulders, "Relena, what happened."_

_Her eyes filled with liquid and without a word she pointed to her laptop situated on her desk. With a sense of dread, he crossed the room and took a seat in front of it. A window was open in the screen with a small icon in it indicating that there was a CD in the drive with a small file on it. Taking a deep breath, Wufei clicked open the file; almost instantly he felt the blood drain from his face as he stared at the image that had appeared on the screen. It had been taken with a night vision lens, but there was not doubt as to what it depicted: Relena, asleep in her room, curled under her blankets, the windows in the background, the camera not more than four feet from her sleeping form. He could not believe it . . . _

"_They were in my room, Wufei." she sounded borderline hysterical but kept her composure, "last night, they were in my room when I was asleep."_

_Wufei could not form words, there was no disputing it; this picture had been taken from inside Relena's room, where not even security cameras could go. He grasped desperately at any rational explanation, "This picture may not have been taken last night – "_

_He saw Relena lose it before he heard, but just barely; her resolve crumpled and she rounded on him mercilessly, "It was taken last night! That's what I wore to bed last night! There is no possible way that anyone could have doctored it without at least having seen me! Someone was in my room last night, they got past everything Preventers has in place and took this picture of me while I was asleep and sent a CD of it to my office this morning!!!" Without warning slumped against the wall, slid to the floor and broke down into heart-wrenching sobs._

_Before he even realized what he was doing, he was kneeling on the floor next to her, holding her trembling and limp form to his chest. Her skin felt clammy and he could feel how thin she had become. She had put up a good front until now, they had fought a good fight, but it was time to admit defeat, they both knew it._

"_They're going to kill me." her voice was calm again, but tiny sounding and he didn't know how to respond, "They got past the best security ESUN could give me last night," she stifled a choking noise, "no one is going to be able to stop them Wufei . . . eventually they're going to find a way, and after I'm gone . . ." She trailed off and began crying again but Wufei didn't need her to finish her sentence. Once Relena was out of the way the Cambridge Five would make their move and in the aftermath the world would most likely spin into chaos and war yet again._

_She pulled back and sat up to face him, her face looked terrified but also set with hardened resolve; before she spoke the words, he knew what she was going to say, "Wufei, I need to disappear." He nodded but she continued anyway, "I think we both knew that this could happen, I-I've become too much of a liability . . . with things the way they are I could single-handedly bring about the end to this fragile peace." She smiled the tiniest and saddest smile he'd ever seen, "I need to go away for a while . . . I'm not helping anyone anymore."_

_Wufei closed his eyes and shifted to lean against the wall behind them; he had known that something like this might happen when the whole situation had begun; he had come up with a plan in case it did. "Doyle and his people can hide you."_

_Relena turned sharply towards him, clearly startled. "You mean . . ."_

"_They can take you away with their group, keep you hidden until it's safe for you to come back."_

_With tears forming in her eyes again she nodded in silent acceptance. "I can't tell any of them, can I?"_

_He was still racking his brain, trying to come up with any other solution to this problem, but they had been beaten; all he could hope for now was that they could keep Relena safe until she could be taken away. "No, they're very secretive, they won't reveal, let alone take anyone besides you . . . even if we told them everything, your brother and Heero would never hear of letting you do something like this – "_

"_They'd find a way to stop me, I'd be murdered and . . ." She stifled another sob as she spoke, "I love all of you more than anything else in this world; I'd die in an instant for any of you . . . giving up my own life is not, I-I'm more than willing to leave everything b-but," she began to cry in earnest again and barely choked out ". . . if it means breaking their hearts in order to save them, t-then I'll do it."_

_Wufei turned to look at her knowing that what he was about to say would make this decision that much harder, "Relena, you're going to have to do something to prove to my friends that they can trust you . . ."_

- - - - -

The room fell silent; what each of them was thinking he could not tell. The silence was deafening and for the first time since he had woken up in this room Wufei wished that they would just start screaming at him again, anything to break this horrible quiet.

Heero's mind, which had been constantly racing since Zechs had attacked Wufei finally slowed, weighed down by the overwhelming reality of Wufei's story: Relena had left in order to protect them and the rest of the world. She and Wufei had been right, there was no other way. Even if they had chosen to tell him or Une, nothing could have been done without launching an investigation, one that would eventually reveal their secret anyway and accomplish the Cambridge Five's plot for them. That he cared for her, that he would do anything for her, that without a second though he would die for her, it all meant nothing because even all that could not have stopped what would have happened if she stayed. Admitting and accepting it was like a knife ripping though his chest, but Relena and Wufei had done the only thing they could in order save everything she had worked so hard to build: they sent her away.

To his surprise, it was as though everything suddenly made sense, as if some cloud had been lifted. That night, at the ESUN Ball . . . Relena had insisted that all of her friends be there, even then she had been nervous, later hysterical, and she had taken him to her bed . . . to say goodbye.

Heero could not find words and slowly looked around the room, hoping for anything that would break the tension that had taken hold over his body. His eyes fell on Zechs who, judging by the expression on his face, was gradually arriving at the same conclusion Heero already had. It was Duo who finally broke the quiet.

"What did she have to do?"

- - - - -

"_You're sure that you're going to be able to this?"_

_She nodded in a way that left him unconvinced and refused to meet his eyes as she turned the small firearm over in her hand._

"_Relena, now's the time to tell me if you don't think that –"_

"_I'll do it Wufei," her voice was cold and distant sounding, "I don't like it, but it's what has to be done."_

_He closed the short distance between them and took the gun from her, holding it so she could see it very clearly, "Remember, this is the safety, it has to be –"_

"_I know how to fire a gun."_

_He tried to not let his temper get the best of him as he watched the tiny woman swing her leg up onto the chair in front of her and lift her long ball gown up enough to slide the weapon she was holding into the holster on her leg. Part of him wondered if she knew how big a risk they were taking, how many things could go wrong tonight, and how severe the consequences would be if they did, and not just for the two of them. "You have the earpiece in?"_

"_It feels like I have a rock in there." she answered as she fiddled with the extremely small electronic device again._

"_You'll get used to it. Now remember, I'll cue you as soon as I've managed to get him to a deserted area, you'll need to get there and take him out as fast as you can."_

_She wrinkled her nose the slightest bit, apparently not caring for his choice of language but said nothing of it. "And you'll try and distract Heero?"_

_Wufei let out a small sigh, "I'll try . . . no matter what I can do I don't think you'll have more than ten minutes to leave the party, take care of him, and dispose of your gloves and the gun."_

_She turned to him wearing a confused expression, "My gloves?"_

"_It won't take long for someone to find out what's happened, as soon as they do the whole place will be locked down, Heero will come straight for you and I don't doubt for a second that he'd recognize the smell of gunpowder on your hands. But you need the gloves so that in case the gun is discovered your fingerprints won't be on it. Preventers would have them on file with everyone else in ESUN, you'd be found out in a matter of hours."_

"_What if they still expose all of you even after I'm gone?" she asked quietly._

_The question caught him off guard somewhat and he tried to think of the most confident way to answer her, "They won't, there wouldn't be a point. With you removed from the picture all they would get out of revealing us is six guys to try as war criminals and execute." She glared at him, no doubt for making such a callous statement and he quickly tried to make up for it, "Relena, if it came to that we'd all be long gone before ESUN came after us." She seemed to accept the lie._

_She nodded and took a seat in the chair next to him, "Do you really think that this is going to work? There are so many variables, I-I'm concerned that I'll do something wrong and all of this planning – "_

"_Relena, if you want to back out now is the time to do it."_

_She stood abruptly and turned to him, a look of fierce determination on her face, "I will most certainly not back out of this! You said it yourself, there's no other way! If we want to prevent these people from gaining control of ESUN and keep all of you safe . . ." her voice began to falter, "We both agreed that at this point in time I've become too much of a liability, I-I know what I have to do, and if that means leaving the people that I love in order to keep them safe then I'm more than willing to make that sacrifice."_

_The tiniest of smiles crept onto Wufei's face, "As long as you remember that, you'll find a way to make sure this works."_

- - - - -

Zechs wasn't sure how much more his heart could take of this, "At the ESUN Ball . . . Relena was the one who killed Michael Whitney?" his voice was even but disbelieving.

Duo was not so calm, "Wh-What?! No, I mean, no! Relena doesn't kill people!!" He turned frantically to Heero, as if hoping that his friend would somehow prove that there was no way what Wufei was telling them could possibly be true, but Heero did nothing. He whipped back around to where Wufei was again rubbing the side of his head, "But, I- . . . Why?! I thought that you guys needed Whitney, instead they just have Relena haul off and kill him as some sick sort of initiation?!"

Wufei had expected this question, "It had been determined that Whitney was no longer any sort of asset, they hadn't been able to trace anything from him and believed that he may have been acting against orders when he went to Relena. He seemed to have been cut off from the Cambridge Five . . . he wasn't of any use to either side anymore.

"But he was to Relena." he concluded.

Again the room fell completely silent, each of its inhabitants lost in their own thoughts.

Zechs was trying madly to rationalize the situation, but quickly concluded that there was simply no way to do so. But there were still so many unanswered questions; he lifted his head to look at Wufei, renewed anger and frustration suddenly bubbling to the surface. "Now explain what happened!" his voice, brought the other four people in the room back to reality.

Wufei rubbed his eyes and leaned back in the chair, "The night of August 21, went exactly as it was supposed to. I was able to signal Relena that Michael Whitney was alone in the gardens outside; she killed him, hid the evidence and made it back to the party before anyone noticed that she was missing. We knew that the mansion would be locked down once his body was discovered and so I wouldn't see her until she arrived back in Brussels two days later."

- - - - -

_He could tell she was trying not to cry and ruin her perfect make-up as she stood and smoothed out her dress, "Heero's waiting for me."_

_Wufei nodded, "I'll see you back in Brussels." He turned to look directly at her, "Forty-eight hours, Relena. Just get through these next two days."_

- - - - -

"In the meantime she needed to use those two days to find a way to get Duo to be the one to escort her home from the airport."

- - - - -

"_Remember, it has to be me at you're home that night, do whatever you have to in order to make sure that Duo's the one who will met you at the airport, I'll handle everything else."_

- - - - -

"Why me?" Duo sounded confused for not the first time, "Why not you instead?"

"It would have been too obvious if I had been specifically called, but in order for our plan to work I had to be the agent in charge at the manor that night. You were the clear choice to meet her as you were the one scheduled to be on duty that evening."

- - - - -

"_What if you can't, Wufei? What do we do if something goes wrong tonight, or that night? We don't have any sort of a contingency plan in place."_

- - - - -

Wufei sat forward in his seat again, "I sabotaged Duo's car by setting a small, timed charge on his alternator so that it would go when he was too far from head quarters to go back, but not close enough to the airport. He called back to head quarters, I made sure I was in Une's office and volunteered to go in his place."

- - - - -

"_That's because we only have one shot at this; everything we've worked for, it all comes down to these next forty-eight hours, Relena."_

- - - - -

"I had the bag of supplies Relena would need waiting in my car and slipped it in with her luggage once we arrived back at the manor."

- - - - -

"_I'll have everything in place, everything you need will be ready. You just have to do these two things . . ."_

- - - - -

"After she retired to her room, I made sure she had enough time to accomplish what she needed to before I sounded the alarm that she was missing . . ."

- - - - -

"_. . . kill Michael Whitney . . ."_

- - - - -

". . . and she slipped out of the manor."

- - - - -

"_. . . and make sure we're not discovered by Heero or anyone else."_

- - - - -

For a moment none of them spoke; they were all mulling the same question over in their heads, but it was Noin who blurted it out, "How the hell did the two of you do it?"

Wufei took a long drink from the cup in front of him before answering, "The bag I left Relena contained, a small tarp, a sharp pair of scissors, a waxing kit, hair dye, contact lenses, and a lab technician's biohazard suit. Relena was to go into her room, spread the tarp on the bathroom floor and cut her hair as short and neatly as she could in a manner that would not draw attention to herself, making sure that all of the hair fell on the tarp. She'd then dye her hair and eyebrows black and wax them as to as thin as she could. Once she had showered and made sure to clean the dye residue out of the stall, she put in the contacts and dressed in the bio hazard suit. I intentionally stole Sally's so that it would be too big on Relena and make her look smaller than she actually is. From there she was to roll up the tarp, taking all of the hair and trash with it and put it back in the bag I had given her.

"When I went to check on her, I confirmed that she was ready and announced that she was missing. When I put in the call to Preventers, I told them about the fumes in the room and made sure that they sent a lab team first and foremost; this also allowed me to keep anyone from going into her room before they got there."

Zechs was beside himself trying to wrap his head around how something so simple could have gone unnoticed by so many people. "But there were fumes in the room," he turned to Heero almost desperately, "Yuy, you said it yourself, the room smelt like chemicals."

Heero was looking at the floor with his eyes closed, "It did . . ." he lifted his head to look at Wufei, "It was the fumes from the hair dye?"

Wufei nodded in confirmation, "Relena positioned herself just off to the side of the door, completely covered and looking nothing like the person everyone was searching for. When the team of eight came in, we knew that they'd immediately begin searching the different rooms; it was easy for Relena to slip in with them unnoticed and then to follow them out, get in one of the vans, carrying the bag with the tarp in it and leave."

Heero felt his heart slow down; he had literally had her in the palm of his hands and let her get slip away. His mind was racing with every way he could have stopped this from happening, "She was right in front of me . . ."

"But you weren't looking for her." Wufei concluded for him, "Not there anyway. It's what we were counting on, that all of you would be too distracted organizing a search and dealing with the crime scene to notice that one more lab tech was leaving than came in. It worked, all she had to do was keep a low profile and blend until she could make it to one of the vans as get away from the manor."

"To go where?" Duo sounded as though his head might explode at any moment.

"Back to HQ, but one of my friends was waiting for her there, to take her to rendezvous' point . . . the pub that we always met at, the one that was their Brussels outpost . . . O'Malley's, that place in Old City."

Heero felt his eyes go wide, "O'Malley's . . . that was Relena's –"

"So where did they take her?!" Zechs roared and pounded his fist onto the desk he was leaning on, "Who the hell are these friends of yours?!"

Wufei took a deep breath, causing Zechs to dread the answer he had wanted since he first saw the tape.

Wufei lifted his head to look straight into his eyes and answered the most steady, unwavering voice he could muster, "Keiji . . . Relena's with Keiji in China. She's a Keiji operative now."

- - - - -

_Wufei quietly pushed open the door he knew would be unlocked even though the pub had closed three hours ago. At five o'clock in the morning the sun was barely beginning to rise over Brussels, but the inside of O'Malley's remained as dark as it would be in the middle of the night._

_He made his way through the kitchen and up the set of stairs in the back that would led to the rooms on the second floor. As he reached the top he could hear voices off in the distance; they grew louder as he approached._

"_Lena, luv, we really can't be waiting any longer –"_

"_I'm not leaving until –", she stopped short as Wufei pushed the door open. A look of relief swept over her face at the sight of him; in a matter of seconds she had crossed the room and thrown her arms around his neck, "I was worried you wouldn't get here in time."_

_He pulled back from her, "Then you should have left and not waited for me."_

_She smiled sadly at him. Relena looked odd to say the least; her hair was still black and cropped very close to her head, her thin eyebrows looked nothing short of ridiculous, and seeing her wearing jeans and t-shirts was a significant departure from her usual business suits and dresses. She had been hidden away in the upper rooms of the pub for two weeks now; they had to wait until the intense manhunt for her had died down before it was safe for her to leave Brussels, even now it was risky. In those two weeks he had only managed to sneak away to visit her two other times; once to make sure she arrived alright, and another to go over the plan to get her out of Brussels one last time._

_Erin stood in the corner watching them, "I'll give you a moment to say 'yer goodbyes, but we need to be off, and soon at that." _

_No sooner had she closed the door behind her than Relena's eyes began to water and she turned back to Wufei with a look of panic on her face, "I don't know if I can do this . . ." she choked out._

"_You have to now, and you can." He sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, "Something is going on Relena, but we'll figure out what it is, and once we do you'll be able to come back."_

_She nodded and stifled a sob softly, "How is, my brother and Heero, how are –"_

"_I haven't heard from your brother, no one has. He and Noin didn't tell anyone where they were going."_

"_And Heero?"_

_Wufei paused, not sure whether the truth or a lie would hurt her worse; he opted for the former, "He's a wreck, Relena. He's holding himself together as best he can; he doesn't let anyone see it but . . . he's going out of his mind."_

_As he predicted Relena broke down into a fit of tears, "I can't do this, Wufei. I can't do this to all of them, to my friends. How will I ever explain what I've done, how will they ever forgive me?"_

"_When this is over, and we can tell them everything, they'll understand." He lifted her face, forcing her to meet his eyes, "They love you, they'll forgive you, but you have to make sure you stay alive long enough for that to happen."_

_She sniffed and wiped her eyes, "I will."_

"_You're a strong woman Relena, you'll be fine. Erin will get you safely to China and Keiji; I'll try and get out there as soon as I can, but it may be a while. Keiji will take care of you, you're one of them now."_

_She was about to open her mouth to answer when a sharp knock from the door interrupted her and Erin entered. "You're ready then? We really can't be waiting any longer."_

_Relena nodded to her and bent down to pick her knapsack up off the floor, slinging over her back. Without warning, she again threw her arms around him, "Please make sure that Heero is alright."_

"_I will."_

_She stepped away from him and over to where Erin was waiting in the door, casting him one last sad smile before turning and following the Irish girl down the hall._

_Wufei waited in the room, listening to the sounds of their foot steps fade as they descended the stairs and made their way out on to the street. He walked to the window to watch the two shadowy figures disappear into the morning fog, all the while praying to the gods of his ancestors that they had made the right decision._

- - - - -

"Erin took Relena safely to the province of Guizhou in southwest China; she lives in a little village called Shitou. It's one of the seven hidden Keiji bases."

The heavy silence was almost immediately broken by Zechs, "She's with KEIJI?! That was your master plan?! You sent her half way across the world to hide within a paramilitary group?! What the hell were you two thinking?!"

"Milliardo," Noin interrupted quietly, but Zechs would not hear it.

"Don't 'Milliardo' me Lu!! This lunatic saw fit to ship my little sister off to be an operative for one of the most reckless groups of people ever to grace the planet!!" He whipped around to face Wufei, "What the hell could you possibly have been thinking?! She's not a soldier for God's sake, she's –"

A disgusted sounding noise came from Wufei's direction and Zech whipped around to face him, "Do you have something to say Chang?"

Wufei gave a sort of twisted chuckle and pulled himself up in his chair so he was facing Zechs, "Yes, that in all the years you have none that woman, not one of you has ever given her the credit that she deserves."

Zechs' face began to turn red, "You son of a bitch, where the hell do you get off – "

"Listen to yourselves! I tell you that Relena left, of her own free will, in order to do what she felt was right and you're too busy screaming that her determination of what was right should have been left to you to even consider the situation she was in!"

The room fell silent as Wufei's words sank in, Duo mindlessly leaned back on the desk behind him, Heero continued to glare at Wufei and Noin emitted a soft sob. Regardless, Wufei was suddenly feeling less merciful, "Relena is one the most noble, self-sacrificing individuals I have ever met. When she learned that someone out knew who all of us were and wanted to use that information and her office to destabilize ESUN she did not hesitate for a second to do what had to be done."

"There were other ways!" Zechs sounded as though desperately trying to justify his thoughts, but Wufei was ready.

"No, there weren't!" Wufei practically launched himself as he stood from his seat, "This is why she came to me instead of any of you – "

"Because you're a heartless bastard?" Duo spat at him bitterly.

Wufei flinched but ignored the comment, "Because she knew that as far as she is concerned none of you can think rationally!!" Surrendering to the throbbing pain in his head, he took a seat again. "Relena knew that given the situation the only completely safe course of action was to remove the lynch pin in the Cambridge Five's plan: her. If she was no longer available to blackmail or be killed their plot would never be able to accomplish what they wanted."

He leaned his head against the high back of the chair, his voice calmer now, "Understand that what the Cambridge Five was doing wouldn't have worked with just anyone, even if they did have the same sort of conclusive evidence as they did for her. Relena was an icon to the people of ESUN, to find out that their most beloved leader was knowingly harboring war criminals . . . it would have torn the peace she worked for apart and all of us would most likely have been executed. She came to me because she knew that all of you would be too selfish with your love for her to act if something like this had to be done. And when the decision came she made it without hesitation . . . she left to save all of you, to save the world, again."

"She didn't have to . . . we could have, I . . ." All four of them turned to face Heero, who had remained silent up to this point. Hands clenched at his sides and breathing heavily, he looked as though he might break down at any moment.

Wufei took a deep breath, an overwhelming sense of compassion washing over him, "She didn't want to go, but she knew she had to." He stood to and walked to the other side of the room to refill his glass with water again, "She was planning on coming back as soon as she could, but just five months after she left . . ."

The heads of the four other people in the room shot up and turned to face him and Wufei felt compelled to quickly launch into an explanation, "None of us knew anything about Josef or what he was planning. Looking back on it now, it's obvious that the Cambridge Five were working for him; but we had no way of knowing that. We believed that they were a small group that between myself and Keiji we'd be able to root out and eliminate . . . we were wrong."

"Obviously!" Duo snapped at him.

Wufei only nodded, "Like Minister Trotsky those three years ago when he came to tell us about Agent Hall's betrayal, Josef's original plan did have something to do with Relena, it was what the Cambridge Five had been plotting. We also concluded that the attack on the New Delhi Peace Summit was carried out on Josef's orders to kill off as many ESUN members as possible and open up spots for Josef's cronies, and also to make sure Relena became Foreign Minister."

"But the almost killed her!" Duo practically yelled.

"But they didn't." Wufei concluded for him, "We weren't able to make the connection until it was too late . . . and by that point there was no sense in telling you. Relena would have been in more danger than ever, beside that . . . Keiji needed her."

Zechs looked at him incredulously, "For what?! What could she possibly be doing with a group like that?! She could be hurt, killed running around with them! How do you know that she's even alive? Did you see her the last time you were there?!"

Wufei shook his head, "No, I didn't." He paused, considering how to phrase his next sentence, "We missed each other by a few days. She was . . . away, on a mission."

Heero and Zechs both erupted at the same time.

"A what?"

"So you haven't actually seen her in over a year?! She could be dead!"

"She's not dead."

Zechs was practically raving, "You don't know that! You haven't seen her in – "

"I saw her less than two months ago." Wufei interrupted, and turned to look at Heero and Duo, "We all did."

- - - - -

_People were still moving around behind them, shots still being fired; if it had not been for one freak moment of silence neither of them would have heard the crackle of the taller man's radio and the sharp voice coming from it. ". . . kimi, we're leaving now, you've got two seconds to . . . get your ass to the front . . . we'll meet . . ." _

_As soon as the words were spoken another person wearing the same black dress dropped gracefully from the balcony off to their left and dashed to where the man in front of them was standing pausing a moment to look down at Heero's unconscious body. Without a word the smaller person placed hand on his shoulder as though to indicate their presence and the two broke into a run maneuvering gracefully between Wufei and Duo; the taller one stopped for one second to turn back and yell "You're supposed to be letting us know about this stuff, Chang!" And with that they made a break down the aisle and straight out what was left of the back door. _

- - - - -

"She's Okimi."

"No."

"What?" Wufei turned to face Duo, who had a very resolute expression on his face.

"No. That big guy who killed the man that went after Heero, that was Okimi."

Wufei shook his head, "No, that was her second in command. Relena's one of the leaders of a global rebellion, they don't let her just run around in the middle of a gun fight. She went to South America on Keiji business, probably for a meeting with one of the gang leaders. My guess is whatever negotiations they were in went bad and Keiji decided to take them out. Relena would have gone with them but been hidden somewhere safe."

Duo still looked as though he could not accept this, "No, we heard that guy's radio, someone called him Okimi!"

"Of course you heard it on his radio, as I said, he's Relena's second in command, he'd be on the same channel as her. And you didn't hear her called Okimi."

Duo was getting mad now, "What the hell do you mean –"

"You heard her called 'Kimi'." Wufei cut him off, "That's what the actually code name is; Kimi . . . and Daisuke, Inari, Izanam, Kisho, Shito, and Yukio . . . the 'O' added to the beginning is actually just a little joke by the Irish who felt left out of the naming process." His voice was dry and exasperated sounding, but he smiled the tiniest bit, "But it was the Irish version that got around and the Nanami decided to keep it that way reasoning that anyone outside their group wouldn't know to call them otherwise."

Wufei stopped to glance around the room; Heero was back to staring at nothing in a dazed sort of way, Duo next to him, continuing to sputter in confusion, Noin's eyes were still red but she was no longer crying, Zechs looked as though he may be in need of CPR soon. Wufei walked back to his seat, running his hand over his hair as he went. The four other people in the room were clearly in varying states of shock; he didn't like doing this to them, the whole situation had gotten out of control. Maybe he should have told them sooner, gotten Relena to come back at least to let them know that she was alright. But deep down inside he knew that that had never been an option, there was too much risk involved and she was desperately needed by Keiji.

But right now, none of that changed the expressions of hurt and grief on his friend's faces. "She's been watching all of you, checking to make sure that you're okay."

Only Heero looked up, a bewildered look on his face, "She's . . " His eyes grew wide as everything suddenly clicked in his head, "The lady who helped Ashley . . ." he felt the blood drain from his face again, "the nurse at Ichtaca Base . . ." This sense that he was being haunted, the overwhelming feeling of her presence he'd been fighting for the past year . . .

"She was careless," Wufei interrupted his thoughts, "but she was worried about all of you."

- - - - -

"_What the hell could you possibly be thinking Relena?!" he screamed at her as soon as Erin shut the door securely behind them. "For the love of God, do you have any idea how lucky we were that this kind of thing worked three years ago but now you're going to go into his hospital room when he's already dreaming about you and hallucinating and just hope that he's drugged up enough not to recognize you?!"_

"_I had to see him!" She had pulled off her mask and cap very abruptly loosening the bun in the back of her head in the process and allowing a thick blond braid to fall down past her waist. "How could you expect me to see him lying there, bleeding and unconscious on the floor and not check to make sure he was okay? I thought he had died!" She asked him these questions as if to inquire whether or not he really was that stupid but her eyes were starting to water a bit. "He didn't recognize me and I made sure not to speak in front of him!"_

"_You can't keep doing things like this! You're getting too brazen, we didn't go for all of this trouble so that you could blow it by wondering around Parliament helping lost little girls!"_

_Relena's eyes got wide, "You saw me?"_

"_Of course I saw you! I amazed you people actually – "_

"_I was there on business for Keiji Wufei – "_

"_They shouldn't be sending you to places where you're practically worshipped as a patron saint with nothing more than funny glasses, a wig, and a bad make-up job obscuring your identity!"_

"_That wasn't a wig!" She tugged at her length of braided hair, "And they needed someone who knew the layout of that building, thanks to you and Heero even our best hackers couldn't get the schematics for that place."_

"_That's the idea." he practically spat at her._

_Relena was clearly in no mood however, "Well if that's the case, you should be a little more careful about what gets in and out of that building, if Sean hadn't figured out that Ajani had planted an explosive device there, we never would have gotten to it in time, and half of what's left of ESUN would be dead."_

_Wufei rubbed the bridge of his nose; she was right of course, that Ajani operative had managed to slip past them and almost killed most of the sitting members of ESUN, they had been lucky Keiji was keeping an eye on things too . . . and no one in Preventers was the wiser . . . "You're not understanding me, Relena – "_

"_Oh Wufei, quit your whining." Erin stood from where she had been leaning against the wall and strode over to them, "You can't be blamin' the girl for wanting to make sure her long lost love was breathin' and all after seeing him take a fall like that."_

"_He's not my long lost love, Erin."_

_Erin rolled her eyes and smiled as she put a hand on Relena's shoulder and answered dryly, "Of course he's not dearie."_

"_Both of you are completely missing the point here!" Wufei was back to screaming again._

"_No, I think you be makin' the point loud an – "_

_He rounded on her viciously, "Don't even get me started on you Erin! Its bad enough Relena's willing to risk her own life like this but you're supposed to be keeping her out of harm's way when she called to areas like this one! Instead you help her sneak on to this base so she can go practically dance around in front of a dozen people who all think she's dead!"_

_Both women began yelling back at him at once._

"_I don't need to be looked after, Wufei. I though you of all people agreed with me – "_

"_I don't appreciate what you be insinuatin' there laddy! You know damn good and well that Miss Relena's safety is the most important thing to – "_

"_Alright, enough both of you!" He turned to face Relena, almost pleading, "You and Erin need to leave, get back to where ever it is that you guys are hiding out –"_

"_You really are quite the head case there, Wufei." Erin appeared at Relena's side wearing her usual sly smile. To his surprise however, her face suddenly became very sincere, "I promise we'll get back ourselves back safe as houses and all."_

_Wufei nodded, "Do you need me to cover for you?"_

_Relena shook her head, "We'll be fine." She pulled her mask and cap back on and headed for the door, Erin right behind her, but stopped to turn back to look at him, "I just need to make sure that he was okay."_

_Wufei let his head drop a bit, "I understand." He looked back up to them, "Please be careful." _

"_We will," she smiled under her mask, "Oh and Wufei, congratulations." She held up a hand and pointed to her ring finger._

_He closed his eyes and shook his head with a smile; he opened them again to thank her, but they were already out the door._

- - - - -

For what felt like the hundredth time in less than an hour the room fell completely still and quiet. Wufei bowed his head so that it rested on his folded hands, "Relena's safe; she misses all of you but felt she working for Keiji was more important than her own personal happiness. She's still working towards peace . . . just in a different way."

At first none of them responded until Heero lifted his head from his chest, "How do I find her?"


	12. Footsteps to Follow

Okay, I'm back. I am so sorry that this chapter took so long, (I swear, I'm still writing!). Aside from the fact that I have been drowning in school work, this was a really hard chapter to write. Seriously, despite being the shortest I've written in a while, it took me forever, reasons being that this one spends a lot of time in the heads of various people and I tried to make it as realistic as possible . . . especially this first part.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be back on track with my usual every two or three weeks. For those of you reading Mutually Assured Destruction, I needed a week off from that to finish this chapter and catch up on some other stuff, but it will be updated. Thank you for all the reviews, I absolutely loved them; I really enjoy all the constructive criticism and I'm so flattered by how many of you have taken the time to really think about this story and write to me about it.

And here I am ranting on and on like a lunatic again, sigh. Okay on to the next chapter, and I promise I'll be back soon. Enjoy!

Occam's Razor

Chapter Twelve – Footsteps to Follow

Tynan

- - - - -

_The first thing that struck him was the smell; it wasn't a bad smell, he just couldn't place it. There didn't appear to be any signs of life but regardless, he called down the hall, not wanting to startle the apartment's occupant. As he continued down the hallway he ducked his head into the dark kitchen and to his shock discovered it contained a couch, a recliner, and several other pieces of furniture not usually found there. He also noted that for all the new additions the small kitchen table next to the window was gone. _

_Duo felt an odd sensation of curiosity and dread wash over him and again he called out to his friend. "Heero?"_

_He was met with silence as he kept walking, but came to a dead stop as he rounded the corner into the living room._

_The sudden appearance of the furniture in the kitchen was quickly explained; all of Heero's usual fixtures had been moved out the room, the kitchen table was the only thing that had apparently replaced them. This however, was not what brought him to a screeching halt. The entire room had been practically wallpapered in paper of all kinds; official looking reports, both hand written and typed, pages that looked like interview transcripts, stills taken from security cameras, a large map of Brussels and next to it one of Europe and next to that one of the world, all covered with hand drawn rings and markings. Next to or near all of these were blank pieces of paper with what looked like Heero's hand writing all over them. Connecting all of these papers were colored lines drawn, in some cases, almost clear across the room, linking one intricate detail to the next._

_The floor was littered with computer equipment and in the center sat a mass of silicone, metal, and blinking lights that Duo could only assume was a newly engineered CPU of Heero's design. Connected to it was Heero's infamous laptop and a number of other monitors and keyboards. Duo tried to take a step forward into the room but knocked over one of the many precariously balanced pieces of electronic equipment. No sooner had it hit the ground than it was followed by another very familiar noise and Duo looked up, finally locating the man he had come here looking for . . . and he was pointing a gun at him._

_Duo stood his ground but faltered as soon as he had a minute to take in the sight of his friend. Heero looked like hell to say the least. He sat on the floor, back leaning against the wall behind him. Clad in only a pair of jeans and lose white t-shirt it was easy to tell that he had lost some weight, his skin looked off color, he obviously hadn't shaved in several days, and his hair seemed to hanging limply around his face. Above all else, Duo was transfixed by Heero's eyes; their usual vibrant blue was almost no where to be found, instead they looked dead and lifeless; sunken into their sockets, they glared at him from behind dark bangs in a way that would suggest something had gone horrible wrong inside._

"_Heero . . ." but the words died on his lips. Nevertheless, his voice seemed to break the fierce look on the other man's face and he lowered the gun in his hand, but still said nothing._

_Duo could never think of a time before this that he was legitimately frightened by Heero, but as he watched his best friend sink back against the wall and stare at apparently nothing all he could wonder what the other man might do at any second. Gathering as much courage as he could, Duo took another step into the room and addressed him again, "Heero, buddy . . . you alright man?" He knew it was a stupid question, the obvious answer was a decided 'no', but couldn't think of anything else to say._

_Heero didn't respond, but he seemed to be staring at something in a blank sort of way. Slowly and trying to stay within Heero's line of sight so as not to startle him, Duo approached him and knelt beside him on the floor. "Heero?" Still no response, and he cautiously put a hand on his shoulder, shaking him the slightest bit; Heero still did not respond._

_For some reason, panic suddenly washed over Duo. Crouching in front of the prone man, Duo seized both of his shoulders and shook him as gently as he could, "Heero!"_

_To his relief, Heero lifted his head slightly to look at his face; his eyes narrowed in a confused way; but as soon as the contact came, it went and Heero's gaze drifted back to where it had previously been, locked somewhere behind Duo. Not knowing what else to do, Duo shook the Japanese man again, but to no avail. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and sat back on his heals; Heero looked even worse from close up. The dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced and his skin seemed to be coated with a glossy looking sheen._

_Duo ran his hands through his bangs as he tried to think what to do. Something was clearly very wrong with Heero, but as things were Duo couldn't even get him to respond to his efforts to rouse him from his dazed stupor. His mind raced; for some reason taking Heero to a hospital just didn't seem like a viable option, but he obviously needed medical attention. Duo stood and walked back to the hallway as he took his cell phone from his pocket and dialed the only number he could think of._

"_This is Agent Po."_

"_Sally, hey, it's Duo. Listen, Sally . . . do you know how to get to Heero's place?"_

_It took her only about twenty minutes to get to their location, Duo was waiting by the door for her. Her face was drawn in concern; the description he had given her of Heero's condition had sparked her to immediate action. She strode purposefully down the hall and into the living room with a complete disregard for the miniature supercomputer Heero had sprawled out across the floor._

_Duo watched as Sally let the bag she was carrying slip off her shoulder and onto the floor as she knelt down in front of Heero. She did all the things a doctor would do; checked his pulse, his pupil reaction, his response to pain . . . Heero responded to none of it and Duo could tell Sally was about to switch to less conventional tactics._

_The thought had barely crossed his mind when Sally abruptly stood from where she was kneeling and traversed the room, stopping at the wall Heero was staring at, and turning around to face him. For a moment neither of them moved when suddenly Heero's head jerked up, looking at Sally as though she had just materialized out of thin air._

_Duo was torn between relief and worry; Heero was looking around the room in a state of clear confusion and disorientation; he also appeared to be trying to speak and stand up, neither of which he seemed able to do. Flabbergasted, Duo turned to Sally who was walking back towards Heero now, "Sally, how did you -"_

"_He's dehydrated," she cut him off, "would you go get him some water please, Duo?" _

"_Wait, what did you –"_

"_Duo, the water, please." Her voice was soft but forceful and Duo had no choice but to comply._

_He walked to the open doorway that connected the living room with the kitchen and stopped dead as he remembered the adjacent room was full of Heero's furniture. Duo sighed out loud as he grabbed the first thing he could and started pulling it back into the living room. No wonder Heero was dehydrated, he couldn't have gotten himself something to drink if he wanted to. _

_After finally making enough room to get himself to the refrigerator and retrieving a bottle of water, (noting that much of the food in there had gone bad) Duo went back into the living room where Sally had apparently dragged one of the couches he had just removed from the kitchen into the cluttered living room and placed Heero on it. Currently she was putting an IV in Heero's arm; Heero for his part was laying flat on his back, just staring at the ceiling, but even from where he was standing, Duo could tell his friend was at least aware of his surroundings now._

_Duo made his way across the room, which was no small feat, and held the bottle out to Sally who took and it wordlessly put on Heero's chest as if to leave it for him when he wanted it. She tapped the IV line a bit and picked up the bag attached to it; after looking around for a moment she hung it from one of the many nails holding various pieces of paper to the wall next to where she had pushed the couch. Checking to make sure it was secure Sally stood and walked back to the kitchen, not knowing what else to do, Duo followed her._

_They stepped inside and Sally leaned against one of the counters while turning to face him, "How long has he been missing?"_

_Duo was suddenly overcome to with the urge to defend his friend and his actions, "He's not missing Sally, he's a grown man, it's not like he ran away!"_

_Sally rolled her eyes, "Fine then, how long has it been since he stopped coming to work?"_

"_I don't know, I guess he was in the office last Monday –"_

"_So over a week and no one found that odd?"_

_Duo felt a wave of anger wash over him not appreciating the insinuation, "He called out of work on Tuesday after he got some bad news the day before Sally! Then I got an e-mail from him on Wednesday saying he'd be out the rest of the week . . . but then he wasn't in on Monday or the day after and I thought I should come check on him . . ."_

"_Duo," Sally's expression was no longer angry, but something closer to sympathetic, "what happened last Monday?"_

_The braided man sighed and suddenly couldn't meet Sally's eyes. As soon as Heero had called out that first day he knew why, but he thought that maybe some time off would do his friend some good. Heero of course had volunteered no information and Duo had learned not to push the matter in those situations. It was after Heero still hadn't come in the following week and was not answering his phone that Duo had started to worry about his friend . . ._

"_Duo." Sally's voice brought him back; he tried not to look stubborn but she must have seen it in his eyes because she suddenly squared her shoulders back and drew herself up to full height, "Duo, Heero is having some kind of a psychotic episode, he was almost completely catatonic and probably hallucinating when we arrived here." Without warning her eyes softened and her voice became quieter, "He's been slipping away these past two months, I know that you've noticed."_

"_Yeah." he agreed, suddenly engulfed by guilt. There was no denying it; as the investigation had wore on Heero had been folding in on himself. It was obvious to Duo that his friend was racked with guilt, but well, there was just something else there. In his defense, Duo had tried to get Heero to talk to him, but it was an exercise in futility. He had no recourse but to just keep an eye on him, hoped that he would slowly come to terms with what had happened, but then last Monday . . ._

"_Heero was taken off Relena's case."_

_Sally looked up, confusion splayed across her face, "What?"_

_Duo leaned back against the wall behind him, "Last Monday, Une reassigned Heero from Relena's case." He scratched the back of his head in his usual nervous manner, "The thing of it is that, well she's right. It's been two months since she disappeared and we've turned up squat." he practically spat, suddenly feeling very bitter about his own failures as well, "Une needs Heero for other stuff and we're getting absolutely no where. The Special Investigations team doesn't need him and Une's still got an agency to run. She can't have one of her best guys chasing a case that's going absolutely no where. But Heero . . ."_

"_Feels like the investigation is all but being closed." she finished for him._

_Duo brought his hand up to massage the bridge of his nose, "It's not just him," he explained with a somewhat desperate tone, looking up to meet Sally's eyes, "Sally, we've been going at this, full tilt, for two months and have found absolutely nothing. No one's ever seen anything like this before, it's like she just vanished into thin air . . . and right under Heero's nose."_

"_And by taking him off the case, Une is basically telling him that she's gone and it's time to give up."_

_Duo nodded, "Yeah . . . the thing is, I think she's right."_

_Sally bowed her head a bit and added quietly, "Me too."_

_A heavy silence hung in the air; it felt like hours before Sally finally stood from the counter, "Heero needs to get to a hospital." Again Duo nodded, knowing that his friend would not like it, but something had to be done, "I'm going to call Une and let her know what's happened. Hopefully we can arrange something to keep this incident from getting out."_

_She took her cell phone from her pocket and began to walk towards the front door, but Duo stopped her, "Hey Sally?" She turned around, "Before, what did you do?"_

"_When I saw the state he was in, I guessed that he wasn't just completely catatonic, he looked like he was staring at something, probably a hallucinating whatever it was. I just followed his gaze and stood where it looked like he was staring; my interrupting his delirium must have snapped him out of it."_

_Duo blinked and took this information in as Sally continued towards the door, "He should be a little better by now, see if you can talk to him."_

_Duo sighed a slightly louder than he meant to and spun on his heels back towards the living room. As Sally predicted, Heero had propped himself up against one of the arms of the sofa with his legs stretched out in front of him. Duo paused for a moment, unsure of how to approach him; Heero still looked like death warmed over, but that was an improvement from his appearance ten minutes ago._

_Before Duo could even open his mouth Heero looked up from where he had been staring at the floor; he was relieved to see that there was a coherency in his friend's eyes. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Duo crossed the room and flopped down on the opposite side of the couch from where Heero sat; the Japanese man had let his head fall against the back of the sofa and closed his eyes._

_Neither of them spoke. Duo began to feel as though the tension that hung in the air might smother him. As long as he had known Heero Yuy the man had been a rock. Yes, he had lost it before, but now like this . . . and not for these reasons. In their four years of friendship, Duo had never seen the man seated beside him this . . . vulnerable, and it scared him. It scared him because even if he would never admit to it out loud, through all the insanity that had been their lives since the war, Heero had been a constant for him; he was the calm, rational force that no matter what the situation would see to it that things worked out. And somehow seeing him like this, like another nameless broken man, somehow it served to remind him of the one thing he never really remembered, but always should have._

_When all is said and done, Heero Yuy is a human being just like him and everyone else on the planet._

_And humans have their limits. Heero had clearly been pushed over his, and he, the man's best friend, had failed to see it._

"_Where's Sally?"_

_Heero's voice jarred him from his thoughts, "She went out front to make a phone call."_

"_Une." It was a statement not a question._

_Duo leaned back into the couch, "Yeah . . ."_

_Silence flooded the room but only briefly this time as Heero spoke again, "What are they going to do?"_

_Duo sighed and sat up, but could not look at his friend, "I don't know man . . . you're probably gonna have to go to a hospital or something." Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Heero nod slowly._

_He opened his mouth to speak again and Duo prepared himself for the string of protest that was surely about to come; but to his surprise Heero only muttered, "I keep seeing her."_

_Duo finally tilted his head to look at Heero, who was once again staring at the wall in front of him. Duo racked his brain trying to come up with something, anything to say, but to his amazement Heero kept talking but his voice sounded distant and vague "She's everywhere. On the news, in the papers, at work, at home, when I'm awake, when I dream . . . I see her everywhere."_

"_Heero buddy, it wasn't your fault –"_

"_Every night I see it all over again. I can see someone dragging her out of her room, drugging her, hurting her . . . and every night I'm there this time or I do something different. Every night I'm a little faster, a little smarter, a little more aware . . . every night it's something else, dozens of different ways . . . but every night I save her." He rested his head against his folded hands._

_Finally Duo couldn't take it anymore. For two months he felt like there was something else there, something out of place in all this and he and been trying to ask Heero, but could never bring himself too. It was obvious now that this was the time. "Heero, what happened with you two?"_

"_She disappeared, Duo." came the deadpan reply._

"_Yeah I noticed!" he practically yelled back, but calmed himself down even though Heero hadn't even seemed to notice. Duo took a deep breath, "I mean what happened with you two before. And don't say nothing. You said it yourself, you two had a fight and she wanted me to pick her up at the airport instead of you, so what happened?"_

"_It doesn't matter."_

"_Why not?"_

"_Because it doesn't change anything."_

"_Then why not just tell me?"_

_Heero didn't answer, he just let his head fall back against the couch as he emitted a noise Duo took to convey frustration. Despite this he was not deterred. It was clear that at least part of Heero's behavior had something to do with whatever fight Heero and Relena had had and seeing as the man seated next to him was probably going to be talking to a shrink for at least the next few weeks, this could be his last chance to try and get the information out of him. However, this was easier said than done, some sort of plan or tactic was clearly going to be necessary –_

"_That night, after the Gala, Relena and I . . . I spent the night with Relena."_

_Duo lifted his head in surprise at Heero's sudden vocalization; however this still didn't clarify matters. He tried not to sound too confused as he spoke, "Well yeah, I mean you were in charge of her security and the whole place was on lock down –"_

"_No Duo, I . . . I was with Relena that night."_

_There was no hiding the confusion now sprayed across his face and Heero was obviously getting irritated._

"_. . . In her bed, Duo."_

"_Oh." he answered casually but no sooner had the words left his mouth than his eyes grew wide as the implications of the words hit him, "Oh!" It came out a little more startled sounding than he and meant and Duo sighed and leaned back against the couch. "Oh . . . so, so what happened then?"_

"_We had sex, Duo!" Heero spit out the words, clearly annoyed that Duo couldn't connect the dots himself._

_But this was not the case, "Obviously!" he lowered his voice, "I mean, what happened afterwards? Why did she –"_

"_Because I left her. When she woke up I was gone." His voice was quiet and for the first time Duo could ever remember, remorseful sounding._

_Duo only nodded. Heero didn't need to explain, he didn't need to justify his actions. The guilt and self-doubt his friend had been wracked with was suddenly explained._

_The two sat in silence as Duo idly began to wonder what could possibly be taking Sally so long._

"_She's dead isn't she?"_

_Heero's word hit Duo hard and he found himself at a complete loss. He turned to face the Japanese man, but Heero was staring at the floor, apparently unable to meet Duo's eyes. He sighed and sat forward so that his arms rested on the top of his thighs, knowing full well that he could never take back what he was about to say, "Yeah, she is man. I'm sorry."_

_Heero did not react to Duo's words and somewhere in the distance he heard the front door open and the sounds of Sally's boots on the hardwood floor. They both knew that they would learn Heero's fate in moments, but Heero didn't seem to care. Duo watched him as he continued to gaze at the floor in front of him, transfixed by the haunting shadow that still dulled his eyes._

- - - - -

Duo watched Heero as he stood in front of Wufei and found himself once again transfixed by the same shadow he had seen all those years ago. What this meant he could not say. His thoughts were interrupted as the subject of them spoke.

"How do I find her?"

Wufei looked up, "I ca –"

He never finished the sentence as Zechs launched himself at the already bleeding man, "Don't you dare tell me you can't take us to her! You're going to tell me exactly where she is and how I can find her!"

Wufei's eyebrows crinkled in anger and he pushed Zechs away from him, "You can do whatever the hell you want to me, but you're not getting anywhere near Shitou village –"

"I swear to God Chang, I will beat you to within an inch of your –"

"Yuy can go." Wufei cut him off.

Zechs looked back and forth between the two Asian men almost frantically. "Yuy –"

"Or Maxwell, it doesn't really make a difference to me." Wufei answered coolly before turning to face Zechs with a much more serious look on his face, "You're too recognizable Zechs. Even if the guys at O'Malley's agreed to arrange passage for you, you'd never make it there. It's a dangerous journey; someone would realize who you were and you'd never be heard from again."

The blonde man practically sputtered but managed to find words, "Do you think that I'm just going to sit here and wait for Heero to bring my sister back?!"

"You don't have choice!" Wufei was on his feet again. "You're not getting this! Relena is Kimi, she's one of Keiji's seven leaders, she's part of the Nanami! I don't even know how to find her village!"

"But you always manage to get there!"

"Yes, and Keiji members have to take me!" He sighed and sat down, "Relena is possibly more heavily guarded now than she was when she was Foreign Minister. _No one_ can find her unless Keiji lets them."

Noin lifted her eyes to meet Wufei's, "And you think that they'll let Heero?"

Wufei half shrugged but didn't get the chance to answered as a great deal of commotion erupted outside the doors at the other end of the room. Muffled voices could be heard from the other side.

"Don't tell me I can't go in there! One of my agents is –"

"Ma'am please, Mr. Peacecraft gave orders –"

"Well they don't apply to me!"

With out warning the doors of the office burst open and Lady Une marched through them. She stopped after a few seconds to survey the room before spotting her target and making a beeline to him.

It could have been Duo's imagination but he was sure he saw Wufei flinch as his Commander shoved him back into the chair and towered menacingly over him.

"Do you two have any idea of what you've done?! The mess that you've created?!"

Wufei did not yell back at her, instead he let his eyes fall on the floor, as though he could not bear to meet the looks on his friend's faces, "It . . . it wasn't supposed to happen like this, Relena was supposed to be able to come back after only a few months, but then the Echidna Epidemic struck and everything that came after it . . . our original plan couldn't . . . the whole situation just got out of control . . ."

"Then you should have told us!!" Noin sounded on the verge of tears again, "You should have told us that she was hidden and safe and that she'd come back to us!!"

Wufei lifted his head, his eyes narrowed but he kept his voice calm, "Are you going to honestly sit there and tell me that all of you would have sat patiently and waited for her to come back? Don't you think that Relena agonized over this for months?"

A look of disgust crossed Une's face, "Oh, so it was her who decided – "

"Yes it was!" The other five people in the room looked startled by Wufei's sudden outburst.

But Une recovered quickly, "Where the hell is she Chang?!"

"Oh, you didn't hear?" Duo answered in a mock pleasant voice as though engaging in casual conversation, "Relena's with Keiji, yeah apparently she's Okimi – sorry, Kimi – now too."

Silence swept over the room as Une slowly turned her head back to her subordinate, "He had better be kidding." her voice was quiet and deadly sounding.

Wufei only shook his head, "If I had known, I never would have let her –"

In a flash of brown and green Heero had crossed the room and leaned menacingly on the arms of Wufei's chair; he crouched over the Chinese man, their faces inches apart, Heero's eyes were renewed with a deadly look. "What did you think she was going to do?! You said it yourself, Relena's a strong person; did you really think that she'd just sit around and let Keiji fight a war without helping them?!"

Wufei made no effort to get Heero away from him, "We didn't know that there was going to be a war! I sent her there so that she'd be safe, not so she could do something like this!"

"But she did!"

"And how was I to stop her? She's not under mine or anyone else's control!"

With those words Heero took an unconscious step backwards. Wufei rubbed the bridge of his nose and continued, "Relena only became Kimi about a year ago. The way the Nanami works is that if one of them dies, they're replaced by another. The previous Kimi died, Relena took his place. A year ago I went to China to meet with Keiji and Kimi and found Relena there waiting for me." He gave a sad sort of half laugh, "I was furious with her, but I couldn't stop her from doing it. She was right, Keiji needed her and she has been a great asset to them."

"Do they know who she is?"

Wufei turned around to face Duo, "What?"

"Do these Keiji guys know that they have Relena Peacecraft running around out there with them?"

Wufei shrugged a bit, "The ones who need to know do. Most of the outsiders that are brought to Keiji are generally people who were in danger where they were. There aren't many of them and the rest of Keiji knows not to ask about their pasts so as not to endanger them."

"How long will it take me to get to the village?" Heero demanded.

Une lifted her head in confusion and looked toward Heero, "You're going after her?"

Wufei answered for him, "If I can convince my connections to take him."

"You didn't answer my question." Heero was obviously annoyed at being ignored.

"That's because I don't know the answer." Wufei snapped back at him, "It usually takes me about a week to get there, but I can meet Keiji half way. If they agree to take you it could be over two weeks before you actually get there."

Heero stopped as if to consider this for a moment, "Then we'd better head back to Brussels now."

"Now hold on just one minute!" Zechs was on his feet again, "My sister has been missing for three and a half years now, I'm not just going to sit here for over a month for Yuy to bring her back!"

Wufei shook his head in a frustrated way but kept his voice calm and even, "Zechs, the people at O'Malley's won't take you there."

"O'Malley's?!" Une's voice cut through the air as she whipped around to face Wufei, a look of complete disbelief on her face, "That pub in Olde City?" Wufei nodded, "That's the Keiji outpost?!"

Wufei let out a small sigh, clearly aggravated that his long kept secret was no more, "It's the outpost in Brussels, yeah."

Une drew in a deep breath and smoothed out her shirt in her habitual way, "I think that you have a lot to tell me." Her voice was surprisingly calm and she turned to face the rest of those present, "I'd like Agent Chang to clean himself up, then he can explain himself." She looked to Heero, "Yuy, you look like hell. Go get a shower and shave; if you're going to find her get whatever you have to together."

Heero nodded and looked as though he was about to speak but Une beat him to it, "I'll handle everything at HQ." She took a step towards Noin and Zechs, "Could I ask the two of you and Agent Maxwell to get to Brussels in two days?"

Duo scratched his head, "What for?"

"We're going to have to convene as much of Yalta as we can." She subconsciously lowered her voice, "The world's current situation has just taken a very dramatic turn."

- - - - -

Heero closed his eyes and let the hot water run over his head and shoulders. He felt numb and lethargic as he tried to wrap his head around the events of the last hour.

She was alive.

After all this time, Relena was still alive. There was so much to consider, so much to plan for. He had no idea how long it would take him to actually track her down and no idea what he would find once he got there.

Three and a half years. It had been three and a half years since he had last seen her. How would she have changed in that time? Would she even want to see him? He tried not to think about that; Wufei had told him that she misses them, she had broken into Ichtaca Base to check on him . . . but still.

He had been trying to put himself in her position, think about what he would have done facing the same set of problems, but there was no way to compare the two of them. They were two very different people . . . but they were the same in so many ways.

Maybe that's why he was so stunned, so . . . dare he call it 'hurt' by Relena's actions. Because he would have done exactly the same thing.

Heero almost laughed to himself. After all their time together, Relena seemed to have picked up on his old habits. Clarity began to come to him as he considered this. What Wufei had said was right, he never would have considered that Relena was capable of something like this . . . he had never thought that she could leave them all, not like he could. But he had forgotten how alike they really were; that just like he would do anything to keep her safe, she would do the same for him.

Heero lifted his head and turned off the faucets. As he shaved and dressed he began to feel anxious again. What would he find after all this time? So much could happen in three years, he was living proof of that.

But what would these three years have done to her?

- - - - -

Une's back was to him. As he finished retelling his story, she stared out the window. She did not speak and Wufei did not know what to say. The minutes dragged on without a word, which was fine as far as Wufei was concerned, after the events of the afternoon he could use the quiet.

"So, all of this stems back to that little project I gave the two of you six years ago."

Wufei lifted his head a little faster than he should of at the sound of Une's cool and even voice. She turned around to look at him when he did not answer her immediately. Wufei nodded and in a quiet but firm tone responded, "Yes."

Une closed her eyes and leaned against the wall with her chin resting slightly on her chest. "I understand."

"Commander," Wufei heard his voice leave his throat but he hardly recognized it. There was a desperate and apologetic tone there, something that had not emerged during his time with the others, but now . . . He had always respected Une, respected the work that she did, respected that she had been Treize Khushrenada's right hand. For reasons he could not explain he felt the overwhelming need to justify his actions.

"If you and Miss Peacecraft were following the directive that I entrusted to you, then I have no reason to be angry." Une's voice cut off his thoughts. "You have explained what led the two of you to this point, why you took the actions that you did. From what I can see you were acting within the guidelines that I stipulated."

Une paused and crossed the room to take a seat in the chair opposite him. Her posture relaxed considerably as she continued, "I won't pretend that I'm happy with what happened. You allowed Preventers to spend months looking for someone who wasn't really missing, and while I understand that the information you possessed would not have changed the events surrounding Nicholas Josef's rise to power, I wish you would have told me what you knew."

Wufei closed his eyes and nodded, "Commander, you know as well as I do that we couldn't. When you gave us this assignment, the idea was that Relena and I handle it. You can't go back and retroactively select what you should and should not have been informed of. It was all or nothing with your degree of involvement and all of us decided that nothing would be best."

"I'm not arguing that point," she leaned back against the chair, "and while understand why you sent Relena away what I am more concerned about is that according to what you told me you knew of the existence of Keiji long before they announced themselves to the world."

Wufei looked up at her is disbelief, "Of course I did, Keiji factions have been hiding out in my clan's ancestral lands for decades." Une looked as though she was about to interrupt him, but he kept talking, "Commander, I know a great deal of things and have a number of other sources which you don't know about. I'm sure that you could say the same."

The older woman nodded. "I'm not trying to contest that we all have our secrets, Agent Chang."

He shook his head, "Commander, I didn't know that there was going to be war."

"Yes, I understand that."

"I didn't see any reason to divulge my connections with Keiji, especially not when I had just sent Relena to them."

"I assume it was her then that suggested to them that you act as the go between for them and Preventers."

Wufei shrugged, "Most likely."

Une sighed and leaned forward again, "I would think that someone like her would wield the power to make such decisions being Okimi and –"

"Kimi, Commander." he cut her off.

"What?"

"It's not 'Okimi', her code name is just 'Kimi'." Une wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion, "The actual code names are just Daisuke, Inari, Izanam, Kisho, Shito, Yukio, and Kimi. When Keiji started working with the Irish, the Irish started adding the "O' in front in accordance with their odd sense of humor. Like O'Brien, O'Ryan, –"

"O'Malley." She finished for him. Wufei nodded in return. "That's where you're taking Yuy then?"

"I'm not sure if they'll actually agree to bring him to Relena's village."

Une did not answer, instead she stood and walked back to the window before speaking again. "I sincerely hope that they will. While what you did was completely inadvertent, Agent Chang, you and Miss Peacecraft may very well have managed to give save ESUN through your actions."

- - - - -

Zechs stood outside the room Heero was using. He had hoped that the man on the other side of the doors would emerge on his own, saving himself from having to go in there, but Heero was taking his time and Zechs couldn't take it anymore.

He raised a hand and knocked on the door, feeling incredibly stupid as he did so . . . maybe it was because this was his home. In a matter of seconds the door opened and Heero Yuy stood facing him. Without a word he stepped aside to allow Zechs entrance.

After the door closed behind them, Zechs turned to face Heero, but he could tell the Japanese man already knew why he was here. "I don't think that I really need to tell you what I came here to."

Heero shook his head once, "No, you don't."

Silence hung in the air, but for once it was not a tense silence. For once, Zechs felt . . . maybe it could best be called an emotional companionship to Heero Yuy. He almost laughed at the notion, "This is an odd situation that we're in here."

"How so?" Heero did not seem to be sharing in his slight amusement.

Zechs couldn't help the small smile that crept on to his face, maybe he was becoming delirious. "Because something has happened to Relena and it's not either of our faults."

Heero sat down and began pulling on his boots, "Want to go beat the crap out of Chang?"

"He's got to get you through that O'Malley's group first." Zechs shifted uncomfortably and leaned against the wall, trying to think how to best phrase what he needed to say. "Heero –"

"I'll bring her back, Zechs." He lifted his head so that he could look directly at the other man, "If I have to drag her kicking and screaming all the way back to Brussels I will."

Zechs felt his throat close up. He couldn't even go find his own sister, instead he was forced to rely on the man that she herself had come to trust more than him. He felt disgusted with himself; after all this time –

"You shouldn't hold this against yourself." Heero's voice jarred him from his thoughts.

"What?"

The younger man stood as he gathered some things from the room and began stuffing them in a bag. "We've all had to make sacrifices. Relena sacrificed the life that she knew for us. You've had to sacrifice the life you wanted for everyone else." Heero closed the small duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder, "In a perfect world you'd be able to go find your sister and bring her back safely."

Zechs scoffed, "In a perfect world, she never would have had to leave in the first place."

Heero nodded in silent agreement and walked to the door, "Wufei should be ready to go by now."

The blonde man straightened himself from the wall and followed him out the door and towards the staircase. Three weeks had passes since he had first received the video and learned that his little sister was still indeed alive after all these years. He had slowly begun to come to terms with this . . . but now it was actually happening, she could be back in as little as a month.

He was both thrilled and terrified, but he could not say why. He had waited years, eventually given up hope, and now what he wanted more than anything was coming to pass and all he could feel was an overwhelming sense of dread.

As he walked down one of the many grand hallways, he looked at the portraits of his ancestors that adorned the walls . . . and it hit him. This fear that was suddenly over taking him wasn't fear on his own behalf, but rather for Relena.

Before her disappearance she had been a leader of the world, they had looked to her for peace and stability. What would happen when she came back? Zechs paused in front of the last portrait before the staircase, that of his own family. The infant Relena held in their mother's arms, a much younger version of himself at her side. Behind them their father stood tall and regal.

The life they had been born into was taken away and they had been forced to forge new paths for themselves. He had strayed far from his family and now Relena had too. Zechs turned and continued down the staircase. He wasn't unhappy, he had his wife, his county, his cause, and now he had his sister back . . . but despite all of this, he missed the life he knew as the Lightening Count. He missed the anonymity that it had granted him and the freedom he had possessed. It had taken him years to give up that life and that persona. Looking back now, it was easy to see that this had been the right choice to make, he was happy.

But would his sister be able to simply stop being Kimi of the Nanami and start being Relena Peacecraft again?

He reached the bottom of the stairs and found Heero waiting there along with his wife, Wufei, and Une. The massive doors behind them opened and Duo entered the room.

"Alright, there's a car for you outside. They'll get you to the airport and a transport will take you to Brussels from there."

Heero nodded as he and Wufei shouldered their bags. Goodbyes were exchanged, hands were clasped, promises were made. The room was filled with the sentiments of 'Take care of yourself, man.', 'Please, be careful.', 'We'll be waiting here for you.', and 'I won't come back without her.'

The doors closed behind them and the people gathered their dispersed. It was only a gentle hand on his shoulder that brought him back. Turning, Zechs was met with the soft features of his wife. Her eyes were once again brimming with liquid, but this time she was smiling.

"She's coming back."

He smiled in return and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her as close as he could. He nodded in agreement, "She is."

- - - - -

The phone rang for what felt like the millionth time as Duo taped his foot impatiently. His hands were sweating and he could feel his heart racing. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the brick wall that ran around one of the many gardens surrounding the Sanq Kingdom's palace and tried to calm himself down. For the life of him he couldn't understand why he was so nervous, especially in such peaceful surroundings.

There was a click on the other line and Hilde's voice rang through the speaker, "Hello –"

"Hilde?"

" – you've reached the home of Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, and Hilde Schbeiker. We're not here right now, please –"

Duo flipped his phone shut with a frustrated snarl, but just as he was about to stuff it back into his pocket it began ringing again. Reflexively he held it up to his ear, "This is Duo Maxwell."

"Duo, you're back?!"

He nearly dropped the phone as a huge grin broke out across his face. "Hilde, babe! Yeah, I'm back, I –"

A happy sounding noise emanated from the other side of the conversation. "Oh, Duo I'm so glad you're home. Are you and Heero at the airport? I can come get you guys."

Duo scratched the back of his head as his heart began racing again, "Yeah, listen babe, I'm not at the airport. I'm in the Sanq Kingdom right now."

"Oh." she sounded confused and a little disappointed, "Une wanted to meet with you right away? I heard she was up there this week."

Duo let himself slump down the wall until he was sitting on the cool grass all the while trying to come up with a way to say what he had called Hilde to tell her. "Well, it – there was . . ."

"Duo, what's wrong?" Hilde had slipped into her firm but concerned voice, there was no getting around it now.

"Hilde, I gotta tell you something babe . . . are you sitting down?"

- - - - -

Edward Cordell set down his book on the table besides the leather recliner he was currently occupying, nearly knocking over the glass of wine he had set there. Cursing under his breath he stood and walked swiftly across the room to retrieve the cell phone that was ringing from his briefcase.

He paused a moment to look at the caller ID and couldn't help but smile as he flipped open the phone and held it to his ear, "Why Lady Une, what a pleasant surprise."

He could practically feel her rolling her eyes at him, "Hello Edward."

"And what can I do for you this evening?"

She sighed, which to him was never a good sign, "I need you to be at fair grounds tomorrow at 2:00, we're having a picnic."

At the use of the Yalta codes, Cordell's attention immediately sharpened, "Are all invited?"

"All but the ants."

"And can I bring anything to this gathering?"

"All the information you have on ESUN's laws pertaining to delayed succession."

The already cryptic conversation had taken a turn into confusion, "Une?"

"I've got a special desert for the guests. But we need to be careful Malta, I fear we may have wasps waiting for us."

- - - - -

The car stopped and jarred Wufei from his thoughts. He looked up and sure enough, O'Malley's loomed in the distance, barely visible through the early morning fog. As he stepped out of the vehicle and waited for Heero, Wufei could not help but be reminded of that foggy morning over three years ago when he had come to say goodbye to Relena before she began her journey.

He was uncomfortable with this whole situation. In the first place there was a very good chance that Doyle would simply refuse to allow Heero to go at all, and frankly he wasn't sure what he'd do if that happened. Secondly, everyone was now assuming that Heero was going to get out there and bring Relena back. Assuming that he did manage to get to Shitou, there was no guarantee that she would agree to come back; she was needed by Keiji and had more than enough devoted followers who would die rather than let her be taken away against her will.

For now however, it was one thing at a time. Heero fell into step besides Wufei as the two of them walked to the pub entrance. It was before dawn, the door was closed and the lights were out. "Is there going to be someone here?"

"There's always someone here." Wufei replied in a deadpan voice.

Heero watched as the Chinese man lifted the wrought iron latch on the wooden door and it slid open. He followed him inside and waited for him to close the heavy door behind them. The large room was empty like Heero had never seen it before. He hadn't been here in a very long time; honestly it reminded him too much of her.

The sound of heavy footsteps coming towards them snapped him out of his thoughts, but Wufei did not seem concerned by them, nor the massive man that burst through the kitchen doors wielding a rather large shot gun.

"Who the bloody hell be breakin' into –" he stopped short at the sight of the two of them and Heero recognized him as the bartender and owner of the establishment, Doyle O'Malley.

"Agent Chang, and . . . my word, Agent Yuy." He smiled and set the gun down on the bar next to him; he began to cross the room as he spoke, "Blazes be boys, what the devil are ye doin' here this hour?"

Wufei didn't answer, instead he gestured to one of the booths. Without a word Heero and Doyle followed him and took a seat. As they got situated, Heero took the opportunity to get a good look at Doyle. The man was in his late fifties but still had a full head of dark hair. He was tall, at least 6'4" and burly to say the least. He had thick sideburns that ran down past his ears and bushy eyebrows from beneath which two hazel eyes twinkled in the dim light.

Wufei removed something from the bag he was carrying and set it out on the table; a map of China. Heero noticed Doyle sit back abruptly, as though startled and he could tell the man knew what Wufei was going to ask before he even said it.

"Heero needs to get to Shitou village in the Guizhou province."

"Out of the question!" Doyle cut back immediately.

"Doyle, he –"

But Doyle wouldn't hear him, "What the bloody hell could ye be thinkin' lad? You told him?! Why the blazes –"

"Somebody found out about Relena, Doyle."

The older man stopped as though he had been stabbed in the chest. He looked back and forth between the other two men, eyes finally resting on Heero as though pleading to with him to refute what Wufei had said. But Heero only nodded, "It's true."

Doyle visibly paled, "But how . . ."

"Somebody sent her brother a tape of the night we snuck her out of the Peacecraft Manor. Doyle, someone knows that she's alive, we need to get to her and –"

"Then you can go yourself, Wufei."

Wufei opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Heero, "I'm going to find Relena myself."

Doyle looked Heero over for a minute before responding, "Ah yes . . . yes I'd almost forgotten. You were the one in charge of her security."

Heero tried not to glare at the man; he had not meant the statement to be insulting. "I'm going to find Relena even if you refuse to help me. If that happens I can't guarantee that I won't be followed to the Keiji base –"

"Now I'll be having none of that!" Doyle pounded his fist on the table, "It's one thing for you ter be concerned about the little miss, but you won't be threatenin' the work that we be doing!"

"That's not what he meant, Doyle." Wufei tried to calm the man down.

"Like hell it's not!" He turned to face Heero, "Now listen to me you. I don't give a rat's arse who the bleedin' hell you be. No one is going to be doin' anything that might endanger Keiji or Miss Relena! Yer make one step in her direction without the approval of Keiji –"

"Then give it to me." Heero's voice was deadly, "I want to find her. Somebody knows that she's still alive, they might even know where she is." He lowered his voice, "And if you think that you're going to stop me from letting something happen to her again –"

"Heero, enough." Wufei's voice was calm but had a tone that conveyed warning. He turned back to where Doyle sat, now red in the face. "Doyle, somebody needs to go and find Relena. Her family and friends know that she's alive now, and like we've already told you, someone else does as well."

The older man sighed and ran a hand through his thick hair, "You don't need to be tellin' me just how serious all of this is Wufei. But I can't just be sendin' whoever wants to go out the villages."

"I understand that, but Relena might be in a great deal of danger. She might not be safe where she is anymore."

"And what are yer plannin' to do then, eh?" Doyle was now starting to look beside himself, "What do you think you're goin' to be able to do that Keiji can't?"

"I don't know." Heero stated plainly, "I won't know until I can see her, talk to her, find out what's been going on out there." He leaned in slightly closer, "But I promise that I will not let anything happen to her."

Doyle let out an exasperated sounding noise, "Agent Yuy, have to be understandin' this. My job is to see to it that things like this don' happen. That outsiders don't just wander in and out of the organization and its safe places and bases."

"O'Malley, do you really think that I'm some sort of a threat to Keiji?"

The statement seemed to throw the man off balance. He considered this for a moment while he sat back in the booth and rubbed one of his sideburns. "Can I be havin' your word, Agent Yuy, that you will do exactly as your guides instruct you to?"

He nodded.

"And if they tell yer that it be too dangerous and ye'll have to go back and try again, I can count on you to do that?"

"As long as they can guarantee me that I'll get there."

Doyle nodded and closed his eyes, letting his head come to rest in his hands. "Alright then. The earliest I can arrange for yer to be leaving is two days. In the meantime, ye'll be needin' to stay in the upstairs rooms so as not to draw attention to yer comins' and goins'." He turned to Wufei, "Agent Chang, can I ask you to get procure the supplies and paperwork Agent Yuy is going to be needin'?

"I'll have them here the night before he leaves."

Doyle smiled the tiniest bit as he stood up and offered a hand to Heero, who rose from his seat in order to shake it. "Well then, you've got two days. I suggest that you use them to rest . . . you have a very long and dangerous trip ahead of you . . ."

- - - - -

Ivan Uzehasnyurieh walked swiftly down the darkened hallway. While he would not dare to be late it certainly did no harm to be early either; those with whom he was meeting were not patient people. He tightened his grip on the folders he held and quickened his pace further.

After nearly ten minutes more and several dozen turns, Ivan finally stood in front of the room he was looking for. The guard standing outside saluted and opened the heavy door to allow him entrance. He paused before stepping inside reflecting on the fact that no matter how many times he came to this hidden chamber it never ceased to send chills up his spine.

The door slammed shut behind him and Ivan turned to face the five individuals seated around a long, rectangular table that was positioned in the middle of the ornate, but entirely windowless, large room. Sprawled out across the table were various maps, documents, and several glasses of what was no doubt very expensive brandy.

"Commander Uzehasnyurieh," a cool male voice rang out through the still air, "I presume that you have a reason for calling all of us here on such short notice."

Ivan reflexively jumped to attention, "Y-yes sir!" He took a cautious step forward, "Sirs and madams, one of my teams have uncovered some information that, well, I believe you had best look at for yourselves." He indicated the pile of folders he was holding.

The one seated nearest to him slightly extended his arm and the Commander handed him the stack. The man took a sip of his brandy while he read he title on the folder before him; his eyebrow's quirked with curiosity.

"T-there's one there for each of you, sir."

The man did not answer, rather he removed the top folder from the pile, opening it in the process, and shoved the rest unceremoniously down to the woman seated next to him as he began to read. In less than a minute all five were skimming the pages before them with more than mild interest.

Ivan watched from his place near the door, waiting for one of them to speak. Finally, the woman at the very end of the table broke the silence.

"Is this right?" confusion played across her beautiful face.

"Y-yes ma'am!" Ivan lowered his voice, "Two of my men have confirmed it ma'am."

She shook her head in disbelief, "After all this time . . . she's still alive."

"And they've been hiding her? How is it that no one noticed?" the man seated next to the woman spoke with equal bewilderment, but his voice was soft and congenial.

"The world believed her dead sir. That's my only explanation."

The older man nodded, "All these years and the girl has been alive, hidden practically under our noses." He raised his eyes to look at the Commander, "How did your men find her?"

Ivan let out a breath, "I must confess sir, that it was partially luck. One of my operatives spotted her during a routine reconnaissance mission and recognized her."

One of the men on the left side of the table sniffed, "That alone is to be commended, she looks quite different from what I personally remember her as."

"Yes sir, my team felt the same way." He stood up straighter, "However, after further investigation we were able to confirm her identity."

"Then you have no doubt in your mind, Commander," the man who had first addressed him spoke again, "that this is beyond a shadow of a doubt her?"

"Beyond a shadow of a doubt sir."

Seated next to him, a woman whose face had been obscured by the darkness leaned forward over the table, "Well done, Commander Uzehasnyurieh. I am pleased to see that Oprichniki you've been given control of have uncovered something we may use." She smiled in an almost pleasant way, "May I assume, Commander, that our enemies are unaware of your discovery."

"Yes ma'am, you may."

Her smile broadened but took on a sort of twisted quality as if to illustrate the potential for insanity in the woman. "Excellent. Well then, I assume you know your next course of action. And I believe that I speak for all present when I say that we want her alive."


	13. Choices

Okay, and here's Chapter Thirteen, (yay!). I'm sorry that these are starting to take so long; aside from the fact that this part has been hard to write, school is killing me. Hopefully once the semester's over I'll be able to do a whole bunch of this over break.

Before we go on, I got some questions about where I'm coming up with these names, specifically Ivan 'Uzehasnyurieh'. So here's the deal: I am an absolutely huge history/poli sci dork, so almost every original character or group name or codename in this story is historically significant somehow. As far as Ivan Uzehasnyurieh goes, here's the story: Ivan is the Commander of the Oprichniki; in reality, the Oprichniki were a secret police/terror squad of sorts formed by Ivan the Terrible when his was the Tsar of Russia in 1565. Like in the story, they basically do all of the dirty work, spying, and terrorizing needed to be done. 'Uzehasnyurieh' is the closest phonetic translation I could come up with for the Russian word 'terrible', so in the story, we once again have Ivan the Terrible in charge of the Oprichniki . . . now do you believe me about my incredible dorkyness? (hope that helps Nihal and Tanukisaint)

Okay, but enough of that. A quick thank you to Purdy for the pointers, (thank you!) and for all the reviews! I really enjoy reading what everyone thinks about the story. And here I am blabbering again . . . on to the next part.

Chapter Thirteen – Choices

Occam's Razor

Tynan

- - - - -

Hilde's hand was shaking as she held the glass of amber colored liquid to her lips, but managed to steady them as she took a sip. She closed her eyes and let the cool fluid burn its way down her throat, laughing a little to herself as she did so. She never drank alone, it just wasn't appealing. But tonight . . .

Hours after Duo had called she still found herself replaying the conversation in her mind, almost afraid to believe it was true in case it turned out not be, but she couldn't help the small smile on her face.

Duo had been vague, unable to utter more than a very cryptic sentence for security reasons, but he had gotten his point across. He was in the Sanq Kingdom and would be home in several days; then he would explain everything.

Hilde took another sip of the bourbon she had in the cabinet above the refrigerator, Heero apparently having hidden it there at some point. The liquor was starting to get to her, but she did not fight the light feeling washing over her body, instead relishing in the sensation and thinking back to what Duo had told her just hours before.

'They found the Princess, she's locked in a tower, but her knight in shining armor's going to rescue her.'

After all these years, her best friend was alive, and Heero was going to find her and bring her back.

- - - - -

Heero leaned over the railing of the deck; off in the distance he could barely make out Istanbul which was just barely coming over the horizon, shadowed by the sun rising behind it. It was a spectacular sight, one someone in a less harried situation may have been able to take the time to appreciate. However as things stood now, there was only one thing on his mind: preparing himself for the rest of his journey.

It had been four days since he had left Brussels . . . four days since he left to find her. Wufei had been right; the journey would take over two weeks. The morning he left he had been introduced to Thomas Connelly, a 25 years old, nearly life-long Keiji member, and headed to Shitou with his brother and their guide. The first step was to get to Dublin to meet them. Dublin was probably the only city in the world where four people such as themselves could get on a plane and leave unhindered, but they could only get as far south as Barcelona. From there it had been a ferry to Rome where they had rented a car and in a matter of hours driven straight across the narrow peninsula to the port city of Bari, where they would meet the boat that was taking them to Istanbul.

This had been the easy part of the trip. They were able to pose as students on holiday from university and taking the time to backpack across the continent. However, the farther east they got the more difficult this became; Eastern Europe was one of the most contested areas on the planet. Josef and the Oprichniki knew full well that Keiji's main bases were hidden in China and thus were doing whatever they could to find and capture members of the organization as they were coming in and out. Considering the sheer size of the land they had to cover, the Oprichniki, commanding the Leon's Army forces, had managed to cut the number of viable routes in and out of southern Asia to one third of what they were before the war.

This made the next leg of their journey the most perilous; from Istanbul they would be taking a train across Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and into India where they would change trains in New Delhi and head to south to almost the very tip of the subcontinent, a city called Chennai. From there, it was another boat, this time across the Indian Ocean, and around the Malaysian Peninsula, then north to Hai Phong in the northern Vietnamese region. They would drive as far as they could but the next five or six days would be spent crossing the border and entering China on foot. Whether they would actually make it to Shitou on their own or be picked up by a Keiji outpost first, remained to be seen.

For the moment however, the immediate issue was surviving the three and a half day train ride that loomed ahead of them. The train would no doubt be stopped and searched by the Oprichniki at least once; they had to look as inconspicuous as possible. That was where Ling came in.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than its subject emerged on the deck, pausing only for a moment to look him over, before continuing on her way.

Heero tried not to roll his eyes; he didn't blame the girl for not entirely trusting him; after all, that attitude was undoubtedly what had kept her alive for so long. At twenty years old, Ling was one of maybe two dozen people capable of finding the hidden Keiji villages on foot. She was a regular guide for those going back and forth and, as she had made it very clear to Heero, did not trust those who were not members of the organization. Regardless, her orders had been to take Heero and the Connelly brothers (with whom she had worked before) to Shitou, and Ling was if nothing else, obedient and duty-bound.

She emerged from the direction that she had just left, her chin length, jet black hair obscuring her features.

"We'll make port in half an hour, be ready."

Heero turned so that he could nod to her as Ryan emerged from the door she was disappearing into. He smiled as he made his way over to Heero, and stood next to him against the railing, "She still hasn't taken a liking to ya then, eh?"

Heero shrugged.

"Eh, don't be taking it personally. She doesn't really like anyone all that much if we're perfectly honest. I don' think that she likes involving us Irish blokes in all this." He took a water bottle from his bag, offering another to Heero. "I've been meanin' ter ask you, surname's Yuy you've got a bit o' Asian in you, yeah?"

Heero nodded, ordinarily he wouldn't be inclined to answer such questions, but Ryan and Thomas had been as open with him as they could be, he felt he owed them the same, if nothing else to prove he was worthy of their trust and respect. "Japanese, why?"

Ryan shrugged in a way that reminded Heero of Duo, "Jus' that you don't look a think like it." He laughed a bit, "I mean, yeah you've got a darker skin tone than, say me and me brother, but yer features, hair color, and yer eyes, 'specially yer eyes." He took a sip from the water bottle in his hands, "Don' make a bit of difference to me, but I think Ling heard your name and was hopin' for someone that would blend in a little better with where we be goin'."

"The name isn't mine actually."

Ryan nodded with comprehension, "Ah, right then." He laughed in a way, that Heero had recently determined must be unique to the Irish, because most normal people couldn't managed to instantaneously be that happy over every little thing, "No worries mate, we get a lot of that 'round here. Sure you'll fit right in."

With that Ryan continued on to where ever he had been going. Heero watched him leave and could not help but feel a pang of guilt. Ryan, Thomas, and Ling had not been told why he was being taken to Shitou, only that he should be. Doyle had told him that it didn't matter why, he just had to get there. Apparently it was as Wufei said, only those closest to Relena knew who she really was; to the rest of the world she was Kimi, one of the Nanami and leaders of the Keiji factions.

Heero turned his attention back to the approaching coast line, taking a minute to reflect on the fact that this same sun that was dipping below the horizon was probably shining down on Relena somewhere in the forests of China . . . maybe she was looking at it right now as well.

He turned to go back down to his rooms and get his things together, giving the sun one last look.

Soon they would be looking at it together.

- - - - -

Trowa was doing everything in his power to keep himself from pacing, but if Ickes didn't get back soon . . .

Trowa took a minute to compose himself, reminding his brain of the fact that his intern was probably doing everything in his power to get the information he had requested. There were a lot of channels to check, a lot of people to contact, these things took time. He told himself again, that there might not even be a problem, that these operations were highly sensitive, that any number of things could be delaying her.

He sighed and leaned back against the wall, trying to push out the little voice in his head that screaming that all of that didn't change the fact that no one had heard from Liz since she left for Africa over a week ago.

- - - - -

Anthony got out of the passenger side of the car he and Une had driven to the designated rendezvous point: The house that Duo and Heero shared along with Duo's girlfriend.

He shut the door and waited for Cordell to extract himself from the back seat, behind them another car pulled up and Sally, Wufei, and Duo got out. Right behind them in another vehicle were Milliardo, Lucrezia, Quatre and Dorothy, each of them carrying a large cup of steaming coffee. Anthony surveyed the group as they waited for Duo before all following him up the stairs and into the house. Like himself, Sally, Cordell, Quatre, and Dorothy looked somewhat confused but were trying to hide. Une, as usual, was nearly impossible to read; Wufei and Duo both seemed a little frazzled.

Six days ago Une had called him with a simple message: Yalta was meeting in a week at an undisclosed location and to be at the airbase at 08:00 hours in six days. Anthony had not questioned what most would find strange, he was more than used to this lifestyle. What he did find strange was that Duo and Wufei had seemed to return from their assignment without Heero, but he knew better than to ask about the missing man's location in such a place. He also did not question why Une was getting off the plane with them, or why they were arriving from the Sanq Kingdom . . . or why in the world they were all going to Duo and Heero's house rather than back to HQ.

All of these facts were highly suspect, something was clearly very wrong. As he climbed the steps to the front door, Anthony took time in his head to go through the list of things that possibly could have happened that the public might not be aware of yet, but could come up with nothing that would warrant actions of this nature. He was the last through the door and just as it shut behind them as large mass of white fur bounded around the corner and made a beeline straight for Duo. Anthony watched as the braided man stopped to rub the dogs head, but after only a moment she began surveying the group, apparently not finding who she was looking for.

Duo opened a small closet off the side and started shoving coats into it, in the meantime Une was talking to him.

"You're sure that this place is secure Maxwell?"

Anthony couldn't help but smirk as Duo turned back to her with a look of disbelief on his face, "Commander, Heero lives here." He shut the door and indicated that they should all go into the kitchen.

As Anthony followed the group, he distinctly heard footsteps above him. Seconds later, those footsteps were thundering down the stairs in the back of the house. He looked to Duo who mumbled something that sounded like a curse under his breath before walking back to the stairs. Quatre, Dorothy, and Cordell were looking around the corner curiously.

Duo was talking to someone, presumably his girlfriend. Their tones were hushed but apparently Duo had not realized Hilde was on a later shift tonight and though that she would not be home. Hilde was apparently in no mood, she seemed anxious, He couldn't be sure if she realized they were all there. Her sudden outburst served to confirm that she indeed did not.

"Don't tell me later Duo! Six days ago you told me that my best friend's still alive and I've –"

The rest of the sentence was drowned out by Dorothy beginning to choke on her coffee next to him. At first Anthony did not move to held her, as Quatre was beside her . . . but as Anthony waited for him to make a move, he found the blonde man rooted to where he stood, all of the color suddenly gone from his face.

There was suddenly a great deal of commotion as sentences of disbelief were coming from all directions, Une was standing from her seat and demanding quiet, and a surprised looking Hilde was being ushered into the kitchen by her boyfriend. Lucrezia had all of a sudden burst into tears, Sally was looking back and forth between her and her fiancée, who refused to meet anyone's eyes, Dorothy was clawing her way towards Duo, screaming at him for answers of some sort, Quatre still had not moved from where he stood, Milliardo had put an arm around his wife and was now trying to calm down an equally upset Sally, the dog was running around their feet, barking randomly. Anthony watched the mild chaos around him, Cordell was standing next to him looking equally confused.

Drawing in a breath he whistled, high and sharp, as loudly as he could. "What the hell are all of you talking about?!"

It was Une that stood from her seat and gestured for the two of them to come closer to the table. They complied and took a seat next to a now sniffling Lucrezia, looking expectantly at Une, and noticing that Quatre, Dorothy, Hilde, and Sally too were all waiting for her to confirm whatever this big secret was.

"Relena Peacecraft is alive."

Anthony felt a wave of confusion wash over him . . . Relena Peacecraft, Milliardo's little sister, had disappeared over three years ago. He had been undercover on the Lunar Base when it happened, but the search for her had even come there. He was very familiar with all aspects of the case and the conspiracy theories surrounding it that ran ramped on the internet; she was preemptively killed by Josef, she was abducted by aliens, she somehow knew about the coming Echidna Epidemic and went into hiding, she was involved Josef's rise to power and left so that she could rule the world from behind the scenes, she had taken on a new identity and was now living as a college student somewhere in the colonies, she had volunteered to go to Mars, there was even talk in some of the crazier chat rooms that the Gundam pilots had coming out of hiding to get rid of her. Personally he had always thought that she had taken on a new identity, there was a young woman living on L3 that bore a striking resemblance to the former minister, pictures of her were posted all over the conspiracy web-sites and chat rooms.

Anthony tried to sort this out in his mind as Une continued to speak. Apparently Relena was alive and Heero had gone to find her and bring her back . . . Anthony paused to remind himself that Heero had been the one in charge of her security team, Duo had been as well, and Wufei long before that . . . and Milliardo was her brother, Lucrezia her sister-in-law . . . actually, now that he thought about it, Sally had been her personal physician, Quatre was a colonial delegate that worked with her on many occasions, and Dorothy's role in establishing Relena as Queen of the World was widely known . . . and then there was this girl Hilde, screaming about her best friend. In fact it seemed most of the members of Yalta had some sort of connection to Relena Peacecraft, and Anthony Gord simply did not believe in coincidences.

There was more yelling, more crying, more demanding of answers, but Anthony sat silently and watched as Une ceded the floor to Wufei who began to tell them a story which began over six years ago. He listened, his heart racing as so many of the questions he had asked himself over the years were answered. He and several of his online friends had been right all along, it turned out that Relena Peacecraft had indeed known the identity and fate of the Gundam pilots all these years and had personally kept them hidden from the public, having Wufei help her for some unexplained reason. She received pictures of them, the Chinese man explained, both with her and in their current lives, but he did not say what those were. The situation had progressed for almost a year and soon it was clear that Relena was no longer safe . . . Anthony nearly choked on his tongue when Wufei revealed his connection to Keiji and that she had been sent there to hide. The threats had apparently come from Nicholas Josef and Relena, it appeared, had left just in time.

Wufei finished his story, stating that someone had sent Milliardo a tape of the night she disappeared, meaning that someone else knew she was alive, and Heero had set off to try to get to her first. Anthony glanced to his right where Cordell looked as though someone had just hit him in the side of the head with a baseball bat. After several failed attempts, he managed to speak, "So . . . Relena Peacecraft . . . she's Okimi?"

Wufei nodded.

Silence enveloped the room and Anthony couldn't stand it anymore, blurting out the question that he was sure everyone else in the room was dying to ask as well, "So what did she do about the Gundam pilots? She just left, how did she ensure that this person, these Cambridge Five people, wouldn't reveal their identities?"

Surprisingly, no one seemed to nod in agreement with his question, instead they all turned to Wufei, "Because with her gone, revealing who they were wouldn't have created the chaos they were looking for."

"So when she disappeared why didn't they just say that they're the ones who were responsible? It would have done the same thing." Anthony was incredulous that no one else found this odd, "How did they manage to hide themselves? Did she take them with her?"

"No," Wufei continued, "she left someone behind who would look out for their safety, and she's been continuing to do so herself from within Keiji. All of the information that she's gathered has led her to believe that there was no longer a threat to them."

"How the hell did she come up with that?" It was Hilde that spoke this time.

Wufei shrugged, "I don't really know. Before she left, she told me that I didn't have to worry about that possibility, that she had taken care of it and I just had to continue to keep an eye out."

Anthony's eyes widened in realization, "So it was you that she left to take care of things?" Wufei nodded, but Anthony was not satisfied, "Well how the hell are you supposed to do that if she didn't even tell you who the guys were?"

Wufei did not answer, instead he looked to Une, who in turn made brief eye contact with Quatre, Duo nodded towards her and she directed herself towards the group.

"Three of them are in this room with you."

He heard Cordell gasp beside him as his heart caught in his throat. Unable to speak, he surveyed the room trying to determine who, but immediately he knew.

Duo lifted his hand a bit, with a sheepish grin on his face, "Zero-Two."

"Zero-Four." came from Quatre's direction and Wufei mumbled "Zero-Five."

Anthony sputtered at them as Cordell continued to grow paler, "B-but . . . you guys . . ." he spun around to face Une, "You knew about this!?" then turned his attention towards the group, "All of you knew about this?!" His head began to throb, this was just too much, but then a thought struck him, "And Heero . . . he's . . ."

"Zero-One," Duo finished for him, "and Trowa was Zero-Three."

Anthony let his head fall to the kitchen table; it all made sense, why all of these people had some connection to Relena Peacecraft, because she had known who they were and kept them close, and they in turn had kept her safe. And her brother . . . Anthony lifted his head towards Zechs, "And what the hell's your story?!"

"Gord," Une's voice came from behind him, "that's Zechs Marquise, the Lightening Count."

He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. He had long speculated that the Gundam pilots had gone underground, but certainly not in Preventers. Anthony almost laughed, all this time, after all the speculation, the wild theories, the occasional cybernetic hunt for information, they had been right under his nose.

"Gord, Cordell," Une's voice brought him back, "I realize that this is a lot to take in, but I need your word that –"

"Relax, Commander," Anthony interrupted, "the secret's safe with me."

Une nodded and turned back to the group, but Cordell spoke first, his voice quiet, "Commander . . . do you realize what this means?"

Une let out a small breath and took a seat, "Yes. Relena Peacecraft is alive and in a time where the alliances on this planet are becoming more and more fractured, she may be the only thing we have to unite the people of Earth behind us."

"Now just one minute!" Zechs was on his feet, "You can't just assume that Relena's going to want to be thrust back into the public spotlight! Do you have any idea the danger she'll be put in once Josef and those lunatics realize that she's alive."

"Especially seeing as they were claiming that they killed her." Dorothy added dryly.

"Unfortunately," Une continued, "we can't plan for that until Relena gets back here. The decision," she cut off Zechs who looked as though he was about to object, "will be hers to make."

"So what are we supposed to be doing in the meantime?"

"How are we going to explain that she's just suddenly back?"

"What if she won't come back?"

"Do you really think that after three years of war everyone's just going to fall in line behind her?"

"If we announce her to the world and something happens to her again, we'll never be able to beat back Josef."

"Alright, enough!" Une waved her arms for extra emphasis, "These are all very important questions that we need to come up with very specific answers to. This is why I've called you all here, while we wait for Heero to come back with Relena, we need to be planning." She turned toward Cordell, "Edward, you brought the research I asked you for?"

He nodded in reply, "Good. Milliardo and Dorothy, you and Cordell will go through as much of the ESUN legal code as possible. Try to find something, anything that would allow us to make sure Relena is legally made head of ESUN.

"Maxwell, Gord, and Chang, the three of you are to plan for Relena's return and how we are going to hide her until both us and she are ready to go public. Take into account the fact that someone else out there knows that she's alive and may be after her life.

"Sally and Lucrezia, the two of you must do everything in your power to come up with a way to cover Relena's tracks from the past three years. You have to account for every major event since her disappearance and find a suitable cover story as to where she was at that point in time and what she was doing. I will assist you with this.

"Does everyone understand their assignments?"

All but Quatre nodded, "Commander Une I –"

"Oh yes, Mr. Winner, I was hoping that you would –"

"It's not that, Commander." He interrupted, "There was something else that Dorothy and I needed to report to you today."

Une threw him a curious look before taking a seat and waiting from the blonde man to speak. He paused to remove several folders from his briefcase and handed them to Une. "I mentioned to Heero, Duo, and Wufei a week ago that Dorothy and I had uncovered information that Josef was building something in space."

"In the colonies?"

"No," Dorothy answered, "it seemed as though it was meant to rotate around Earth, and we've now determined that it does just that." She handed Une another folder, "Also that it's some sort of highly advanced piece of weaponry."

Une continued to scan the documents, "Agent Gord, I'm going to reassign you to work with Quatre." She looked up from her reading, "Find out everything you can about this piece of equipment and what Josef plans to do with it. We finally have a distinct advantage over Josef, we can't let him win with whatever this thing is."

She turned to Hilde, who unconsciously took a step back. "Officer Schbeiker, you will assist Mr. Winner and Agent Gord. Please review the information that they have uncovered and provide them with any technical advice that they need."

Hilde straightened up in response, "Yes ma'am." She turned to join the two men, but was stopped by Une's voice.

"And Officer Schbeiker, your codename is Potsdam. And as a member of Yalta, I expect that you pass the Agent's Exam by the end of the summer."

With that the groups began to break up, some going to another part of the house, others leaving in the cars outside. Slowly they trickled out the kitchen until only two figures were left at the table.

"So you knew this whole time?"

Wufei looked up at the sound of Sally's voice, "Yes, I . . . Sally, I couldn't –"

"I understand, Wufei." she cut him off, "You wanted to tell me but you couldn't." She spoke with a reassuring smile on her face, but her voice was dead and flat.

Wufei, was obviously not convince, "Sally, it wasn't that –"

She held up a hand, "Wufei, it's fine." but despite her resolve, her eyes were beginning to water, "It's the work that we do, sometimes we have to keep secrets from each other about things like this."

"I don't want there to be secrets between us."

Tears were starting to fall down her cheeks now, but she ignored them, "It's not as though we were even together when all of this first happened. You certainly didn't owe me any sort of explanation."

He hated seeing her like this, he hated himself for making her cry, "Sally –" he tried to take a step towards her.

But she spun on her heels and walked out of the room, muttering that Noin was waiting for her and leaving Wufei to further ponder his guilt and the consequences of his actions. Despite his personal situation he could not help but wonder about his co-conspirator.

How would they react when Relena came back . . . if she did at all.

- - - - -

Heero rolled over, trying not to fall off the side of his bed in the process. He had never been on a sleeper train before and vowed that he never would be again. He, Thomas, Ryan, and Ling were all cramped into a room the ticket seller had claimed was for four people. This was a lie and Heero had several thoughts of a strongly worded letter he would like to send explaining that two convertible benches, and two fold away beds did not meant that a room was fit for four people. Especially when three of those four people were full grown men . . . two of which snored worse than Duo.

Giving up on the idea of sleep for the night, Heero sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. They were going into day three of their train ride; in about ten hours they would arrive in Chennai where they would meet the passenger boat that would take them to Hai Phong. With any luck in about a week they would be in Shitou and he would find –

"Can't sleep either?" A voice startled him from his thoughts and he looked up to see Ling leaning over the side of her own bed. "They're always like this. Usually I can tune them out, but with the train moving and such a small space . . ."

"You don't seem like one who would sleep much anyway."

She shrugged in reply, "People like us don't have the luxury of sleep, Agent Yuy."

Heero couldn't help the expression on his face, but Ling just laughed, "Heero, you have 'Preventer' written all over you. I had you pegged the moment I saw you."

Heero still didn't move. Ling must have sensed his uneasiness because she continued, "Don't feel too bad about it, Thomas and Ryan still have no idea. I'm just better at spotting these things."

"In your line of work I would hope you'd be."

She laughed a little again and Heero realized that this was the first time he had ever seen her smile let alone express amusement. "I can't argue with you there. But I couldn't help but wonder why Doyle would arrange for a Preventer to get to Shitou, one that wasn't Agent Chang anyway."

Heero glance up at her, "You know Wufei then?"

Ling shrugged, "I know most everyone that comes and goes to the villages on a regular basis. But Chang Wufei is also a distant member of my clan." She sat up and let her legs hang off the side of the bunk, "So what I started wondering, is what is so important that Doyle would send an outsider specifically to Shitou village, when he knows who it is that lives there. Of course, I thought, that Shitou's most prominent resident and leader, may in fact be the reason that this outsider is being sent there." She tilted her head to the side in an almost childish way.

"So tell me Heero, what business do you have with Kimi?"

He remained impassive, "What makes you so sure that I'm going to see her?

"Are you going to honestly try and tell me that you're not?"

Heero let out a breath and tried to determine how best to phrase this without giving too much away . . . he owned Ling some sort of explanation, "I knew Kimi before she was Kimi, before she was with Keiji. I have to find her and get a message to her."

"And why couldn't Chang handle this task?" Her voice was teasing, as though she already knew the answer.

"Because it had to be me."

She smiled, "And it had nothing to do with the fact that Relena Peacecraft slipped through your fingers three years ago?"

Heero nearly hit his head on the bunk above him, this whole time she knew . . .

Ling smiled at him in a sincere way, "I'm the one who took Relena and Erin Shannon to Keiji three years ago." She hopped down from the bed and sat beside him, "Relena's a very dear friend of mine Heero, I personally see to it that those going back and forth to Shitou can't endanger her in anyway."

Heero was still shocked by the revelation, "You knew as soon as you met me who I was, didn't you?"

She shrugged, "How could I not? Relena would talk about you all the time." He gave her a questioning look, "She missed you very much."

"How many people actually know who she is?"

"Ten, maybe." She leaned back into the wall, "Myself, plus her personal team, and maybe one or two others who helped arrange for her to get to Keiji. When she first got to Shitou, she was just introduced as Lena . . . now she's Kimi."

Heero turned back to look at Ling, barely about to make out her features in the dark room, "Her team?"

"Yeah, each of the Nanami have a team of seven people that all serve as their advisors and stuff like that." She smiled and sat forward again, "Do you want to hear about what she's like now? What she's been doing the past three years?"

Heero nodded slowly, wondering what brought on this sudden change in Ling. He couldn't help but feel gratitude for the girl as he listened to her talk. Ling was somewhat vague, but described where Relena lived, the circumstances under which she became Kimi, and that once again she was adored by all around her.

But above all else, she would be happy to see him.

- - - - -

Trowa was beginning to lose patience. He had been on hold for Commander Une for almost twenty minutes now even after repeatedly telling her secretary that this call was of the utmost importance. Just as he was about to find Ickes to wait with the phone until Une picked up there was a click on the other side.

"Agent Barton?"

"Still here Commander."

"Yes, I'm very sorry about the wait we've, well a bit of a situation has arisen." He could hear her shuffling papers as she spoke.

"A situation Commander?"

"Trowa," her voice was deadly serious, "This line is secure and you're alone?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good, have a seat. I have to update you on something."

Trowa sat with rapt attention and listened to Commander Une's story, but really the important parts could easily have been summed up in four sentences: Relena Peacecraft is still alive. She and Wufei planned for her to hide with Keiji to protect the pilots. Heero has gone to get her and bring her back. Yalta is planning for a way to end the war.

His mind reeled but he would have to absorb the information later, right now there were other matters to attend to. "Commander, the reason I called you –"

"Oh yes, I'm very sorry Agent Barton."

"Commander, Agent Bentley left on an undercover operation eleven days ago."

"Yes, I remember. She's with the Eztli Gang trying to gather information on Josef's forces in Africa."

Trowa nodded despite the fact that Une could not see him. "Commander, Agent Bentley has missed all four of her designated check in times." He drew in a breath, "Commander, I think her cover was blown and she was discovered."

Une did not respond immediately, but Trowa knew what was coming. She, like the others on their team, would tell him that these sort of things happened in these operations, that she was fine and she'd turn up eventu –"

"I understand your concern, Agent Barton."

Trowa lifted his head in surprise as Une continued, "Do we have any way of tracking Agent Bentley?"

"No Commander, she went in completely cut off from us."

"I see. Unfortunately, we can't send a team to run all over Africa to look for her." Her voice was suddenly very sympathetic, making Trowa briefly wonder if she somehow knew about their relationship. He decided to lay everything out there.

"Commander, I can't wait here for her to contact us. By the time we determine that she's actually missing, it will be too late to try and find her."

"And what, Agent Barton, do you suggest?"

Trowa hesitated, "I want to retrace her steps myself, see what I come up with."

"Just you?"

"Yes ma'am."

Une seemed to consider this for a moment, "That's very dangerous Agent Barton, I'm not sure that I can spare an Agent of your caliber for something like this." He was about to object, but Une continued, "I will ask that you wait another 36 hours. If Agent Bentley has not contacted the Ichtaca Base by that point, I will allow for you and two officers to go look for her."

"Thank you, Commander. I'll report on the situation in –"

"Oh, and Agent Barton, one more thing. I saw your sister the other day."

A wave of guilt washed over Trowa as he berated himself for not thinking to ask about Cathy, "How is she?"

"Her doctors say that she has been responding well to the treatment. She asked me to tell you that she expects a good present from South America the next time you come back."

Trowa smiled a bit as Une terminated the line, but as soon as the sentiment came, it went. Was he being reckless? There was a good chance that if he went to Africa to look for Liz he might not come back. Was he choosing her over his sister? He loved both women and while he could not forsake Elizabeth, the thought of leaving Cathy along broke his heart.

Was Une that clever? Had she only mentioned Cathy to remind him of what he could leave behind?

Trowa stood from his chair, contemplating her motives as he walked to the door, and praying that Liz would make contact before the 36 hours were up.

- - - - -

Dorothy tried as best she could to stifle a yawn. She was sitting in a large armchair, all sorts of legal documents spread out before her, in Edward Cordell's apartment. To her left he was going on about something related to succession laws under the current ESUN Parliament, but she had long since lost interest.

It had been two days since she had learned that Relena was still alive and it had also been about two days since she had slept. She told Quatre that she just had work to do, that once she Milliardo, and Cordell came up with some sort of plan she'd be able to relax. In the back of her mind, she knew that he suspected otherwise.

It was just so hard to sleep when one of your good friends betrays everything that you thought they stood for.

Relena had done what Dorothy would never have thought her capable of and it had rocked the ESUN representative to her very core. She had been so angry, so bitter at her friend for leaving them like that. She had screamed and thrown things, and ignored Quatre's best efforts to calm her. Nothing could have calmed her, she just needed time.

They were all going to need time, time to adjust to the fact that the Relena Peacecraft they had known and loved might as well have died those three years ago, because Dorothy knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what three years could do to a person.

Especially someone like Relena.

- - - - -

"_How could this have happened?! You were supposed to be protecting her! You swore to me that you wouldn't let anything happen to her and now she's gone!"_

_Heero watched through bloodshot eyes as the woman before him let go of his jacket collar and fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Outside his office door a small crowd had gathered, but was quickly dispersing as they realized the source of the commotion._

_Only Duo stayed, stepping forward to lift Mrs. Darlian to her feet and help her into a chair. Duo was speaking to her, trying to reassure her that they were doing everything possible and that they would find her daughter. For her part Mrs. Darlian was mumbling incoherently about promises and her family._

_Heero watched as the woman who, not two minutes before had burst into his office, screaming and leading while clutching at his collar, fall into hysterics again. When she had entered he had been powerless to speak or to act, too stunned by her actions. Now he would give anything for her to yell at him again, to be angry, to tell him that this was his fault, because no one else would._

_He had failed to protect Relena and so many people, like the pathetic mass of a woman seated in front of him now, had suffered as a result._

_Footsteps approached his office and a concerned looking Une entered. After a few softly spoken words she swept Mrs. Darlian way and down the hall, presumably to her own office. Heero watched them leave, but still did not move. Duo clasped a hand on his shoulder and asked if he was alright, but still he could not bring himself to react. This was his fault . . . and no one but this woman seemed to blame him. Didn't they understand his negligence? Didn't they know that this shouldn't have happened, that Relena should still be with them? How could they possibly be so forgiving and so understanding when she was gone? Why were they not furious with him? Why didn't they understand that –_

- - - - -

A dull thundering noise from outside their door startled him from his sleep. The boat rocked back and forth, waves pounding against the side as it crossed the Indian Ocean, making it harder for Heero to determine where the noise had come from. He sat bolt upright in the tiny bed, to his left he could barely make out the figure of Thomas doing exactly the same, above him he could hear Ling shifting on her own bunk.

None of the four of them spoke; they were all straining their ears to listen for whatever they could hear. There had to be at least ten people outside, from the sounds of their footsteps they were making their way down the narrow hallway; he could faintly hear doors being flung open, muffled cries of confusion and panic, and softer footsteps being shuffled down the hall.

They were coming closer, they couldn't have been more than three doors away from theirs. Just as Heero was about to speak, Thomas leaned over the side of his bunk, "Stay where you are, we don't know who they are or what they're after. We play this as civilians."

The other three occupants of the room lay back down in their beds, feigning sleep, but all four of them quickly began stuffing various weapons and tools they kept on their person under their mattresses. No sooner had Heero laid his arm back down at his side than there was a pounding on the door. Thomas stood from his bed and signaled to all of them to stay where they were.

No sooner had he opened the door than he was jerked from sight and large, burly man wearing a dark blue uniform pushed his way through. Even in the dark Heero recognized the uniform immediately. This man was with the Oprichniki.

"Everyone up, on the deck!" He shifted the semi-automatic weapon he was holding to one hand so that he could gesture with the other, "I said move it!"

Wordlessly Heero slipped out of bed, pausing to help Ling down so as to maintain the appearance of normal people simply headed to Hai Phong. Ryan was just ahead of them, but as they joined the stream of people now crowding the hall, Heero lost sight of him.

With Ling behind him, they silently followed the crowd out of the lower deck and up the two levels to the open air. There they joined the rest of the 60 or so passengers, huddled together, all of them scared and unsure. Heero tried to scan the congregation for any sign of Ryan or Thomas, but without being obvious that he was looking he could not find them; beside him, Ling seemed to be having the same dilemma.

The murmuring around them came to a dead stop. Heero looked up to see a dark haired man, of average height and stature make his was through the group of people to stand in front of it. The markings on the arms of his uniform indicated his rank to be a captain which immediately confirmed to Heero that it was indeed them that these men were seeking. Ling must have had come to the same realization because she slowly stepped away from his side and back into the crowd.

Without warning the man took his sidearm and fired it into the air; there was a collective gasp of surprise from those gathered before him, but he took no heed of it. "Well then, now that I have your attention, let's get down to business here so that everyone can get back to bed." He smiled in a twisted way at the group.

"For those of you simply making your way to Hai Phong, you have nothing to fear. My men and I are not in the business of causing undue harm in innocent individuals. We are however, in the business and arresting the criminals that frequent this area." He signaled to the five or so men standing behind him, who immediately interspersed themselves in the mass of people, quickly examining each as they went and pushing them aside when they were deemed to be of no significance.

All the while the captain continued, "We have reason to believe that several members of the terrorist organization known as Keiji may be hiding on this vessel. As all of you know, this group of rogues openly stands opposed to the legitimate rule of Nicholas Josef and his regime. They have waged unjustified war against the rightful leader of the Earth sphere and –"

"Sir, we found one!" A voice to Heero's right cut off the captain. He drew in a breath and looked up, but this was unnecessary, he already knew who they had discovered.

Ling stumbled as she was pushed through the throng of people to stand before the captain. One of his subordinates emerged behind her and presented his commanding officer with several sheets of paper, pointing out one section, "It's her, sir"

The captain lowered the papers from his eyes and glanced down at Ling, "So it is." He handed the papers back to the soldier and took a step towards her, "Well little girl, I must say that we've been after you for quite some time."

Heero was nearly oblivious to the soldiers continuing to make their way through the mass of people, he did not notice when they passed by him, some apparently too distracted by the spectacle taking place to pay him any attention. His mind was racing, he could not come up with a single way to get all four of them safely off the boat; they were still at least a hundred miles from shore, even they could get off the boat they'd have no where to go.

His attention was abruptly brought to the man in front of him again, when in one fluid movement he shoved Ling to her knees and held his gun to the side of her head. "Now then," his voice was suddenly cold, "I have a feeling I already know the answer to this, but we'll give it a shot anyway. Why don't you tell me which of these nice people your friends are."

Ling did not speak, she did not move, her eyes were set in a firm resolve that turned Heero's stomach. As he again began trying to come out with something, anything, to get them out of this, a familiar voice whispered in his ear, "Whatever happens, do nothing." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ryan slip back into the crowd and out of sight.

The sound of a gun being cocked brought him back to Ling and the captain, "No? Well, I thought as much." He put a hand on her back and shoved her forward, seizing her arms and binding her wrists behind her back with a pair of handcuffs, then letting her drop to the floor so that she was lying on her stomach. He aimed the gun at her, but looked up to address those assembled before him. "I know that there are more of you on this boat, so I'll say this just once: You're little friend's got less than a minute here unless you come forward –"

"Don't any of you dare!" Ling had raised her head as much as she could; from where Heero was standing he could still see the hard look that coated her eyes. "I will never forgive any of you if you put me before the war!"

Above her the Captain cast her a look of disgust and leveled the gun at the back of her head, "Fine then." and without another word of warning pulled the trigger.

Heero could hear muffled screams around him as Ling's body fell to the wooden deck; the area under her head was quickly stained with an expanding crimson puddle. Heero felt his heart catch in his throat, beside him Thomas let out a soft groan and let his head fall to his chest, but there was no time to even think about what had just happened as the Captain was yelling at the crowd and his men again.

"Find out who was with her on this ship!" he turned back to the frightened people, "If any of you know I suggest you start talking, I can't guarantee your safety with –"

"He was with her!" Heero turned towards the sound of the frightened voice just in time to see the group around Ryan part, leaving him exposed. Two or three of he blue-clad soldiers began closing in on him, but before Heero could even form a coherent thought Thomas had launched himself in the direction of his brother. Reacting on instinct, Heero followed after him.

In the five seconds it took him to traverse the already parting crowd of people he realized that there was no way out; he'd revealed himself now, completely unarmed and surrounded by innocent civilians, to a ruthless enemy. The soldiers were closing in on them, Heero managed to land a fist on the face of one of them, he crumpled to the floor, but more were behind him. At that point however, it didn't matter, he could go no farther on this journey without Ling and it would only have been a matter of time until they had been found out, at least this way –

There was a sharp and sudden pain in the back of his head, distantly he heard Thomas calling after his brother as he fell to his knees and the world went black.

- - - - -

Ivan Uzehasnyurieh rushed down the hallway as fast as his feet allowed him. They had summoned him to the underground room almost an hour ago; he had been on assignment but he knew that they would not consider that an excuse.

As he rounded a corner one of the binders he was carrying slipped from his grip and he had to waster precious seconds in order to pick it up. He tired to keep his hands steady, but the effort was in vain. Despite years of training, his position, and the entire army at his disposal, after everything he had seen in his thirty-nine years on the planet, nothing scared him more than the five individuals waiting for him in that room.

Why this was he could not say, but if forced to give a reason it would be their anonymity. As far as he knew, he was one of less than a dozen people that knew of the existence of the Cambridge Five, five of those people being its members. If only the rest of the world knew, that it was they, not Nicholas Josef, who were truly running the show. That was not to say that Josef had not secured for himself a justified position as world leader . . . but he had only done it with their help.

Who these five men and women were before they came to reside in this underground complex, Ivan did not know. He knew only their names as they had given them and the codenames that they had designated from themselves. Donald Maclean, codenamed Homer, was easily the youngest of the group. By his accent, Ivan guessed he was from somewhere on L4. Andrea Blunt, codename Johnson, always sat to his right; Ivan suspected that the two of them had known each other for a long time before becoming members of the secret group. Across the table sat Guy Burgess, codename Hicks and Duart Straight, codename Ernest. Both were old men and had no qualms sharing how many wars they had seen.

In theory, all of them were supposed to be equal, or so Ivan understood. This, however, was not the case, as the clear leader of the group was Kristen Philby, codename Stanley. While not completely dominating the faction, they dare not make a move without her approval.

Ivan approached the door at breakneck speed and the guard quickly stepped aside to allow him entrance. He was met with five blank faces

"Ah, Commander Uzehasnyurieh, so good of you to join us."

He stepped forward into the light to stand before the massive table, "My apologies, sir. I was delayed –"

"I don't really care all that much, Uzehasnyurieh!" Guy Burgess snapped at him as she leaned onto the table, "What I care about is whether or not your men have secured the girl yet."

He knew this was coming, but had planned for it, "N-no sir. Any plans to extract her are constantly being met with obstacles and –"

"A time, Commander! How long exactly do you think this is going to take?"

"At least three weeks ma'am, that's when my teams foresee the next available opportunity to take her. However, it will be a high risk operation –"

"It think, Commander" Kristen Philby sat up at the end of the table so that her soft voice might be heard, "that it would be wise for your men to wait for a less risky option, rather than chance that the operation does not go as planned as she is taken into even further hiding. Wouldn't you agree, Hicks?"

The old man grumbled and sat back in his chair while Kristen continued, "I don't care how long it takes you Commander, but see to it that it is done right." There was a murmur of agreement around her.

"Ma'am, there was one other thing." Ivan ventured.

"Yes, Commander?"

"Ma'am, my men have informed me that they have captured a prisoner of interest recently. They may be of use in our operation."

"And why is that?"

"Because ma'am," he continued, pleased by her interest, "we believe that the prisoner is a Preventer."

Kristen smiled in that way that made him uneasy, "Very well, see what information you can extract them and report back anything of interest."

Ivan saluted them sharply before spinning on his heels and marched for the door, but was stopped by Kristen's voice, "And Commander, have you made Josef aware of these developments?"

He tried to keep his voice steady, "No ma'am, as per your orders."

She nodded as he left the room, waiting for the door to close before speaking. "Well, these are certainly some interesting developments, wouldn't you agree Donald?"

The man in question turned to face her, "I don't understand what you think that you're going to accomplish with this girl Kristen. It's not as though she was ever on our side previous to her apparent death, what exactly do you plan to use her for?"

Kristen was still smiling as she answered, "To be perfectly honest with you Donald, I'm not entirely sure. But I will say this: at the very least she is a powerful bargaining chip."

To her left Andrea scoffed, "Bargaining chip for what? You think that all of ESUN will surrender in exchange for a girl they believe to be dead?"

"Ladies," Duart spoke, "we have a slightly more important issue to deal with her and now." He tossed a folder in the middle of the table, "Namely, Josef and his new toy."

"Oh yes," Andrea purred, "I'd quite forgotten about that coot. What's he gone and started building now?"

"Something in space from the looks of it." Donald turned the plans over in his hands, "Does he really think that this thing is going to work?"

"Don't underestimate his capabilities; he has some of the finest engineers in the world working on this piece of machinery."

Kristen took the folder from Donald and began flipping through the pages, "What we should be most concerned about is the fact that Josef felt he could hide this from us, more distressing is that he tried in the first place." She set the folder down, "Before we retire tonight, we must decide what we are going to do about this."

- - - - -

As best he could tell it had been at least six days. Six days since he, Ryan, and Thomas had been ambushed, six days since Ling had been killed, and six days since he had been brought to this place. Where this place was he couldn't say; it was humid and dark, but that probably meant they were underground. No light reached here save for what came from the small crack under the door. The walls and the floor were concrete, the room surprisingly clean, but completely empty. He lay on the floor in the sweat pants and tee-shirt they had arrested him in, his arms and legs bound with thick leather straps with metal locks on them.

He was alone in this room but knew that there were others out there somewhere, Thomas and Ryan probably, they wouldn't have split them up if they had been captured together. But that was not the reason he knew there were others.

No, it was the screaming, and it never seemed to stop.

He hadn't noticed it until yesterday, before then he would hear one of the cells around him opened and someone being dragged across a hard floor . . . then the screaming would come.

But now it didn't stop. Part of him was still sane enough to realize that it was in his head. How much longer he would be able to maintain that degree of coherency though, he couldn't say. He could feel himself slipping, the lines between what was real and imaginary were beginning to blur. He knew that at least part of this was the early symptoms of malnourishment. Since he had been locked in this room they had opened the door five times. Three times were to bring him food, once to drag him out, the other to throw him back in.

If he had the choice, he'd rather starve to death than have the door open again. They had taken him away and he had discovered the source of screaming and bore the marks of it all over his body. They did not ask him questions, and he knew why. They were trying to break him down, trying to make him crazy so that he would tell them anything in the hopes of being granted a quick death.

Death. That was what was waiting for him here. It had been two weeks since he had set out from Brussels, no one would start to look for him for at least another month and by then . . .

Heero tried to roll over without opening the wounds on him that were starting to heal. He tried to stretch his arms but the leather cut into the raw skin on his wrists that started bleeding again. The pain didn't mean anything to him, it was nothing compared to the crushing weight of defeat and hopelessness bearing down upon. To have come this far and go no further.

To die here in this place, without ever seeing her again.


	14. Out of Reach

Wow, Chapter 14 already! I have to say that I was really looking forward to writing this one, so it may be a while for Chapter 15 as I must spend the next several weeks finishing my papers. There are some potentially confusing parts of this chapter, if that's the case I'll write a little clarification at the beginning of the next one. For those of you reading Mutually Assured Destruction, hopefully I'll be updating that in the next week.

Thank you for the reviews! I'm so flattered by how into this story people are getting, I promise I'll get the next chapter up as quickly as possible. Until then, enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen – Out of Reach

Occam's Razor

Tynan

- - - - -

"_What do you want me to say?"_

_His sudden speech seemed to startle Dr. Kelly. Despite the overwhelming bitterness that was rapidly washing over him, Heero kept his voice even and quiet._

"_Do you want me to say that she meant a lot to me? Fine, she did. More than anyone else ever has." He let his head hang down against his chest._

"_Heero, this is what I've been telling you for over a week now: It's normal to have these feelings when you've lost someone important to you." Dr. Kelly had that sympathetic look in her eyes again. He hated that look; it would appear and vanish in a matter of seconds, quickly replaced with her usual casual air . . . but he hated that look._

_He pushed the thoughts out of his mind and lifted his head to meet his therapist's eyes, finally not finding even a trace of empathy within them. "And for the same week now I've been telling you, I didn't lose her. She was taken away, kidnapped because I let my own personal feelings and concerns get in the way of doing my job."_

_Dr. Kelly sat forward in her chair, "You're not going to make any sort of progress if you can't accept that what happened wasn't your fault. I've read the case file Heero, nothing would have been different that night if you were there instead of Agent Cha –"_

"_You know for a therapist, you're a pretty shitty listener." He stood abruptly from his seat and walked to the window behind it, suddenly unable to stomach looking at the dark haired woman that had been seated across from him, "I don't know how many times you want me to tell you the same thing."_

"_Well now, that would be our problem wouldn't it?" The tone in her voice had shifted from its usually professional quality to the one that indicated she was about to start yelling at him, "You seem to be under the impression that if you keep repeating the same thing like some sort of deranged parrot I'll eventually get sick of you and let you go back to your pathetic little existence of wasting away your life looking for a dead woman."_

_She was baiting him; he knew it. She had done this before, almost succeeded once, but she had never been so harsh. He knew it meant she was getting desperate, having to resort to hurtful, untrue statements . . . anything to get a rise out of him. He had been able to maintain his calm, to not let her break him, but he was getting close . . . Somewhere in the background she continued._

"_Relena Peacecraft is dead Heero. You know this. But despite knowing this you seem hell bent on throwing away your life so that you can sit around and brood and be miserable over an event that really doesn't change your existence that much!"_

_He snapped. "Who the hell do you think you are?!" Her rounded mercilessly on Dr. Kelly, "What the hell makes you think that you are even remotely qualified to say what changes my life?!"_

_The look on her face was one of indifference and he knew she was still baiting him, but he didn't care now, "Then tell me Heero, how is now any different from before Relena vanished, or even before the war ended for that matter? You're still a soldier of sorts, you're just wearing a different uniform. How was your life during the war differ –"_

"_Of course it was different!" He lowered his voice, "You know that better than anybody else, so don't pull that shit with me."_

"_Yes, you're right, my apologies." She took off her glasses and turned in her chair to face him, "Heero, how was your life different after the war?"_

"_Because . . . it just . . ." He sighed, this was not a direction he wanted to go . . . but he didn't care anymore, he just wanted to get out of here. "Because I was still alive."_

_Dr. Kelly set aside the pad of paper she was holding and looked at him curiously, as if asking him to continue. He could not meet her eyes but walked back to his chair and sat down, opting to stare at the floor in front of him as he spoke. "In three and a half months, the end of January, I'm going to be twenty years old. I wasn't planning on living past fifteen . . . but I did . . . because of her."_

"_You think that had it not been for Relena you would have died?"_

_He dipped his head a bit, "One day, the war was just over. The war was over . . . I didn't die. I was supposed to die, and . . . none of this was planned like this . . . I didn't have anything to live for anymore, but I was still alive."_

"_Except her."_

"_I was supposed to die in the war."_

_Dr. Kelly leaned forward, "But you didn't. And she didn't either, and that was because of you."_

_Heero nodded, but still did not look at her, "Dr. J and the others were dead, the Gundams were destroyed, there was nothing left to fight for . . . all I had left . . . was her." He let his head fall into his hands, "I was kept alive so that I could be a weapon . . . but after the war was over . . ."_

"_Relena was all you had to go back to."_

_Heero snorted in spite of himself, almost smiling at the absurdity of the situation, that he of all people was divulging this much of his life to a practical stranger. Dr. Kelly continued, "She gave you things that no one else ever had or ever could."_

_Heero shook his head, "Stop."_

_But she did not stop, the tone of her voice rising slightly, "Being with Relena, meant that you had a life to yourself for the first time."_

"_Stop it." His voice had disintegrated into a growl._

"_. . . A life where you didn't wake up and wonder if you were going to be alive at the end of the day; you had a job that you enjoyed . . ."_

"_. . . don't." he grated out from clenched teeth._

"_. . . friends that care about you . . ."_

"_I said stop!"_

"_. . . and someone who loved you."_

"_And now she's dead!" He was suddenly on his feet, glowering down at Dr. Kelly who, to his annoyance, did not look even slightly taken a back. "She's dead! She's gone, she's not coming back!" His voice caught in his throat, the reality of what he had just said hitting him like a ton of bricks._

_Relena was gone, she was not coming back._

_Silence enveloped the room and time ticked by. How long they sat there he could not say, but Dr. Kelly was the first to speak._

"_Heero, I know that Relena must have been the first person that ever loved you." She paused as though she expected him to say something, when he didn't she kept talking, "She gave you something that no one else in your life had ever bothered to before, and now you've lost that and you're afraid to return to what your life was like without it." She leaned forward in her chair, but he still could not meet her eyes, "Your life is going to be very different now, but that doesn't mean that it's going to be bad again. Relena is gone, but you still have other people that care about you a great deal."_

_His nerves were raw; he was barely processing what Dr. Kelly was saying instead focusing in on trying to keep himself from shaking, "She . . ."_

"_Helped you make a new life for yourself." She spoke the words that he could not; her voice was soft and understanding. Slowly, he brought himself to lift his head from his hands to look at her face. She smiled sadly at him, but beneath that smile was a look of accomplishment, "Would you really let what she did for you go to waste by throwing away the second chance the two of you made together?"_

_All he could do was nod dumbly in agreement. She had given him an opportunity for a new life . . . and without her it just didn't seem like it could go on. It had been almost three years since he had collapsed into her arms in the underground bunker Mariemaia was hiding in. In those three years, so much had changed and all of it was because of her._

- - - - -

"Relena . . ."

The word barely came out as a whisper and died on his dry, cracked lips as he stirred from his delirious state of sleep. He opened his eyes but knew that it didn't make a difference; it was just as dark whether they were open or closed.

The usual dull noises were beginning to cloud his thoughts, but for now he could still push them away so that he could think of her. She had given a way to a second chance for his life, but he would trade everything he had had just see her and to know that she was safe.

He wasn't sure how much longer he was going to last in this cell. Something was wrong with him, it was obscured by the pain and the blood, but he could still feel it festering inside of him and it, more than anything else, was pulling him away this world.

And away from her.

- - - - -

Officer Third-Class Ickes Wickard was in a full sprint by the time he reached Ichtaca Base's main building. He barely paused to flash his badge to the security personnel at the door as he burst into the lobby and made straight for the stairwell; he did not have time to wait for the elevator.

Seven flights of stairs later, beads of sweat were starting to drip through his crew cut and onto his forehead; he had been here for over two years and simply could not get used to the heat of the equator. At the end of the hall he could just make out the door he was seeking and quickened his pace, almost knocking over two perplexed looking officers in his flight.

He swore he could smell his boots smoking as he skidded to a halt outside of the door in question, composing himself for a moment before knocking.

"Enter."

That was all the invitation he needed and without a second though Ickes pushed open the door and quickly stepped inside the office. Waiting for him was his Agent in Command, who cast him a questioning look but instead gestured that he should speak.

Ickes took a step forward, and arranged himself at attention, preparing for the request he was about to make, "Agent Barton, sir, I would like to request permission to accompany you on your mission to Africa to recover Agent Bentley, sir."

His commander did nothing at first, as usual his face bore no expression, and neither did his voice when he finally spoke, "We're leaving in half and hour, Officer Wickard."

Ickes subconsciously drew himself up to full height, "I understand that sir, I have prepared the necessary gear and equipment for myself."

"At ease, Wickard." The brown haired agent crossed the room and pulled out one from the table he was standing in front of, indicating that Ickes should sit down. He did so as Agent Barton circled to the other side of him, "This is a very dangerous mission, Officer."

"I understand that sir."

Trowa nodded as though mulling something over in his head, before turning back and locking gazes with him, "Ickes, why do you want to come to Africa?"

The younger man let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. It could take him days to answer that question. Ickes Wickard had been serving as Agent Barton's intern for over two years now, and he had never come to admire anyone more in his life. His superior was only a few years older than him, but the presence he commanded, the skill he possessed, the knowledge that he wielded . . . Ickes had never encountered anything like it before. He had been one of the best in his class and could have passed the exam required to make Officer Second-Class over a year ago, but that would have meant leaving Agent Barton's command and missing out on all there was to learn from this man. Now he was venturing to Africa in a nearly impossible attempt to locate and recover Agent Bentley and he simply could not bring himself to let Agent Barton go without him.

"Sir, I . . . I want to be part of the mission. In the two years that I've served under you I have not once let you down, and –"

"You think that I'm not coming back alive?" Trowa finished for him.

Ickes was startled by the bluntness of the statement, but there was no denying the truth in it, "It's a very dangerous mission, sir."

"And you're willing to throw your life away for it?"

The younger man's head snapped up, "Sir, if I can assist in anyway I would not consider it throwing my life away."

Trowa took a step back, again looking as though he was giving the situation care thought. "Besides you the team consists of myself, and Officers Lancaster and York. We leave in twenty-five minutes from Flight Pad D. Grab your gear and meet us there."

"Sir!"

Ickes practically jumped from his seat and bolted to the door, allowing it to slam shut behind him. Trowa shook his head as he watched him go before turning back to the dozens of maps that were strewn about his office. He was already having second thoughts about allowing Ickes to accompany him; he had no idea what they would find there, it was potentially a suicide mission and he wasn't sure that it was fair to the young man, so full of promise. However, Trowa reminded himself, Ickes was a competent soldier, more than capable of understanding the risks of any given mission and should be allowed to make his own decisions.

The situation was grim at best; they had almost nothing to start on and absolutely zero to follow. Aside from that, almost the entire continent was overrun with Josef's forces and Liz could be anywhere among them. Trowa closed his eyes and leaned against the wall.

Assuming that she was still alive that is.

- - - - -

Elizabeth blinked as the light in front of her was switched on, making spots appear in her field of vision. Her head was cloudy, her eyes were swollen, and both her legs broken as far as she could tell. She let her chin fall down to her chest, trying to look away from the light –

"Hey!"

In such a short time she had already become immune to the outbursts that were meant to startle any other person . . . but she was not any other person. She had been trained for this sort of thing, she had prepared herself both mentally in physically, she could hold out against this for months.

The pain was nothing; her own well being was not what she was concerned about. What she was concerned about was how the men she had met knew who she was. They had been waiting for her; they had set this up so that they could capture her. Why they were bothering to keep her alive she didn't know, her previous secessions with the prison's guards had involved very little questioning. This was to be expected . . . up to this point they were trying to break her.

But today was different. The room was different, the guards were different, even her bindings were different. Rather than simply being handcuffed, she was tied to a chair which sat in front of a table. As soon as they had brought her here she knew that they were after something important, some kind of information that they seemed to think that she had.

Elizabeth tried to lift her head, but it felt like it weighed several times more than it usually would. She was getting nervous now, she wasn't thinking clearly, she was dehydrated and malnourished and it was starting to obstruct her sensibility. She had been trained to deal with this sort of tactic . . . but while her body was holding out, she could feel her mind slipping.

The heavy metal door swung open and thick boots crossed the floor stopping on the other side of the table. A voice broke the air.

"Leave us. Cut the feed from the room."

Without a word of protest, Elizabeth heard the two guards shuffle out of the room, shutting the door behind them. Another chair was pulled across the floor and up to the table, the visitor taking a seat in it, and to Elizabeth's surprise turned off the light that was pointed at her face.

"There now, that's better isn't it?"

She raised her head, finally able to look at the man seated before her. He was tall and thin, very thin, and not thin in the way that someone naturally was. No, this man looked as though he had recently lost a great deal of weight. His auburn colored hair had streaks of gray in it and it fell loosely around his head. Sometime ago his eyes may have been sharp and penetrating, but now they looked tired and red. His skin looked dull and his cheeks seemed sunken; in his younger days he may have been very handsome, but time and stress had apparently taken a toll on his form. Regardless of his own physical appearance, his blue, Oprichniki uniform was still perfect and crisp. She scanned the arms of his uniform, looking for an indication of rank, but instead found it resting on his shoulders: Commander General.

Elizabeth knew she looked confused and the man laughed slightly at her. "You know who I am then?"

It took a minute for her to find her voice, "My apologies for staring, but I cannot for the life of me even begin to fathom what the Commander of the Oprichniki could want with one simple prisoner."

Ivan Uzehasnyurieh laughed again; Elizabeth could not help but notice that it was a genuine expression amusement rather than meaning to mock her, "Now Agent Bentley, don't sell yourself short. We both know that you are not one simple prisoner."

She sighed a little, there was no point in trying to pretend otherwise. Ivan continued, "Well Miss Bentley, now that we've been introduced, let us get down to business." He removed a thin folder from a bag on the floor and placed it on the table before her. "You see, I'm looking for some information, and I believe that you may be in possession of it and I was hoping that you'd be willing to share."

It was Elizabeth's turn to laugh, "If you know who I am and what I do then you should know that I won't be answering any of your questions."

Ivan picked up the folder and opened it, "Yes, I believed that might be the case, so I thought that we'd start with something small." He removed a piece of paper from the folder and set it down on the table, sliding it in front of her, "I was anticipating that you might be able to provide me with some information about this individual."

Elizabeth looked down at the paper before her, discovering a somewhat grainy picture of a girl on a public street somewhere. The photo was clear enough to make out all of her face, her sharp features partially obscured by her long bangs, her blue eyes, and light colored hair. She stared at the picture for a moment . . . she could not say who this person was, but there was no denying that she looked very familiar. Elizabeth was sure she had seen her before.

"No?" Ivan's voice startled her from her thoughts. Elizabeth said nothing and he slid his chair closer to the table, leaning over it so that he was only inches from her face and jabbing his finger at the picture. "Now let me explain something to you Agent Bentley," his voice had lost its warmness, now sounding cold and raspy, "you and I are in a bit of a situation here and the only way for either of us to get out of it is to help each other. I need information about this young woman to bring to my superiors and you'd probably like to get out of here alive."

He pulled back from her a bit, "You have the information I need and I would be willing to bargain for it. However, if you plan to be uncooperative, we may have to resort to more conventional means."

She did not react to his threats, her face remained impassive, "Even if I wanted to tell you who this person was, I couldn't."

Ivan scoffed at her, "Are you really going to claim that you don't know this girl?"

Elizabeth smiled a bit and shrugged, despite knowing that it would just make him angrier, "What can I say to that? I don't know who she is."

She could tell he was getting angry now and on some level she didn't blame him, "If you want to pretend that's fine with me, we can take it from there. But I will say only this, I know who you are Agent Bentley, I know that you work directly for Une, so I know that you've encountered this girl before." He stood and closed the folder, leaving the picture on the table, "I'll have your guards bring that to your cell for you, maybe looking at it will jog your memory." Ivan turned to go, but paused just before he opened the door, "Let me make the situation here as clear as I can Agent Bentley, I am the only one in this detention facility who is aware of who you really are. I don't give a damn about what you were doing in Africa, but I do give a damn about her," he pointed to the picture, "and anything I can find out about her, so I'll leave you with one more thing to ponder and that is that you and I are in this together."

Elizabeth shook her head as she watched him go. The guards immediately reentered the room and began the process of taking her back to her cell; all the while she couldn't help but wonder why this girl was so important to the Commander of the Oprichniki and why she looked so familiar. She must have been significant somehow because Elizabeth knew that she recognized her from somewhere.

The door slammed shut behind her and the picture was slid under the heavy metal door of her cell. Despite herself, Elizabeth picked it but no sooner had she taken a good look at the photograph than her eyes went wide with recognition.

Maybe the picture looked different in this light, or maybe she was able to think more clearly away from the Commander; whatever the case was there was now no mistaking the identity of the girl in photo.

- - - - -

_Large, brightly colored lanterns were strung across the massive ceiling between the glittering chandeliers, below them tuxedo and gown clad men and women talked, drank, and danced to the serene notes of one of New Delhi's traditional music groups. The night sky was easily visible from the rooms many floor to ceiling windows. He watched her among them, smiling, laughing, charming her way into the heart of anyone who crossed her path. As she was led to the dance floor by one of the older dignitaries she caught his eye casting him a genuine smile. _

_The lights flickered and everything went black, there was screaming, and then a noise like thunder and he was nearly knocked over. A sinister red glow and a thick cloud of black smoke filled the room. He felt his heart begin to race, as he began to look around the dark room but could see nothing; in the back of his head he could hear gun shots and renewed screams, but none of that mattered, he was only listening for one thing. _

"_Heero!"_

_He sprinted forward, searching for any sign of her. All around him people were screaming and bleeding, gun fire barely audible over the chaos. He scanned the sea of people frantically, finally spotting her and moving faster than even he realized he could, pushed his way through the panicked crowd._

_She turned just in time to catch his eye and tried to move toward him . . . not seeing the masked men advancing upon her from behind. He drew his gun and took aim, but the crowd was pushing from every direction and the risk of hitting her was too great. _

_He continued forward, he was almost there, her arm stretched out to meet his . . ._

_A single gunshot shattered the air, blood splattered his vision and slowly she slipped from his eyes . . ._

- - - - -

Heero opened his eyes slowly . . . the screaming had started again. He could hear it, all around him, but it was beginning to change again. His skin was warm and his face felt like it was on fire; his limbs were numb and his wrists and ankles bloody and raw. He knew he was not of his right mind, but it was getting so hard to tell. He had lost count of how many days he had been here, it was just dark all the time leaving no way to distinguish one day from the next.

Over those days thought, there were changes . . . the voices, the screaming, it was different now . . . it was calling for him, in a voice all too familiar. It came and went, but he could still hear her. She was out there, somewhere, begging him to save her and again he couldn't. She was so close somehow but just out of his reach and they were hurting her.

She had come to him once, standing over him, clothes torn to shreds and covered in her blood, silent tears running down her face as repeated his name over and over and he knew that if he could just stand, could just get to her then everything would be alright. His wrists tore and his ankles bled as he struggled to move but even as he reached for her she began to fade away into the dark of his cell leaving him once again to listen for her voice and wait for her to return to him.

- - - - -

"We're all missing a very important point here!" Dorothy slammed the legal pad she was holding on the table in front of her, partially to emphasize her point, partially to work some of her frustration out.

To her left, Cordell leaned forward to look at her, "We are not missing the point, Miss Dorothy, we are –"

"She's been gone for three and a half years!" Without even realizing it she had stood from her chair. The room that they were using had been transformed into their own personal command post in a matter of a week and a half. Books, files and documents littered the room, coffee had been brewing nonstop for almost two weeks now, and several of the chairs and couches had been pushed together to form impromptu napping facilities.

She looked back down to where Quatre, Zechs, and Cordell were watching her, "I don't give a damn if she shows up and the whole world wants to make her a saint, we're still going to have to account for where she's been this whole time!"

Zechs rubbed his eyes tiredly, "I think that particular point will have to be resolved once Relena gets back. In the meantime, we have to finalize this plan to have her –"

"No!" To the shock of all present, Dorothy leaned over and snatched the pile of documents in front of Zechs, tossing them over her shoulder in a shower of white paper, "You're not getting this, any plan we come up with is useless if no one will stand behind her! And no one is going to stand behind her once they find out that Relena ran away to go hide in the jungle and play Rambo!"

"Dorothy," Quatre began cautiously, "Relena didn't just run away –"

"No, but we can't tell the whole world why she really left, now can we?!" she rounded on her boyfriend mercilessly, "That would defeat the whole purpose of her leaving in the first place!"

No one spoke and Dorothy took their silence as acceptance of her point, "Milliardo is right, we won't be able to come up with a good answer as to where Relena was all this time until she returns. So until then, we need to prepare for every scenario that could arise."

There was a murmur of agreement around her followed by the shuffling of papers. The other occupants of the room began talk back and forth, but Dorothy's mind was elsewhere. All the people in this room were so convinced that Relena's return would be the end of their problems . . .

She seemed to be only one who felt that it might just create more.

- - - - -

Mariemaia looked up from her book to where her mother was typing furiously at her desk. Something was going on; she had never seen her mother this frantic and intense before, Edward Cordell had been living in the Sanq palace for the past two weeks and Miss Catalonia and Mr. Winner were here so often that they might as well have been. For weeks now Lucrezia had been sad and distant looking, Milliardo had been the same, since they had receive that package with the data stick over a month ago. But after Agent Maxwell and Agent Chang got back from where ever they had been this changed, now they were just anxious as was everyone else. Even more suspicious was the fact that Agent Yuy seemed to have completely vanished when she knew for a fact that he had been with the other two men. Said two men were currently walled up in Milliardo's office with Agent Gord. And yet for being so full of visitors the palace was eerily quiet.

She had no idea what event could have possibly taken place, if she tried to broach the subject she was just told that everything was fine and not to worry. They were not talking down to her; her mother was usually open about problems that arose in the government and their plans against Josef. Mari tried to be modest but certain things naturally brought out her incredible intellect, and one of those was her powers of deduction.

Something was going on and the fact that no one would even tell her what it concerned meant that only her mother's Yalta team had this information and that they were terrified that someone else would discover it somehow. That Dr. Cordell had practically locked himself in the library with Miss Catalonia and Mr. Winner as practically his only visitors meant that something had happened to the ESUN government, whatever this was it was hitting Lucrezia and Milliardo harder than the rest, and what had happened to Agent Yuy she could only guess . . . but it was an educated guess.

Mari set her book aside and straightened up in her chair, "Mom?"

Une didn't look up, but her voice was not dismissive, "Yes Mari?"

The girl drew a breath, preparing herself for what she was about to say, "Did you guys find out what happened to Miss Relena?"

The typing immediately stopped and Une lifted her head to look her daughter in disbelief. The expression on her face confirmed Mariemaia's suspicions. "It had something to do with that data stick Lucrezia and Milliardo got that night didn't it?"

Une stood from the desk and crossed the room to take a seat opposite her daughter, "Mari, how did you –"

"It wasn't hard to figure out, mom. You guys have all been running around like crazy people and Agent Yuy didn't come back with Agent Maxwell and Agent Chang when I know they were all away together." She looked directly into Une's eyes, "Mom, what happed to Miss Relena?"

Une nodded, berating herself for underestimating her daughter's intellect, "It's a very long complicated story, Mari but . . . we've uncovered evidence that Relena is alive."

The breath left her chest, but Mari kept her face as calm as she could; she knew that the weight of the secret her mother had just shared with her would slowly sink in, but for now all she could do was try to keep the torrent of emotions that were suddenly bombarding her in check. "S-she's alive?"

Her mother nodded, but did not speak, leaving her daughter time to draw her own conclusions, "And . . . and you know where she – Heero went to go get her!" she practically yelled.

"He came back from his previous mission but left immediately to go find Relena."

Mari took a moment in order to wrap her head around this information, "That package that Milliardo and Noin received, but . . . did it say where to find her?"

Une shook her head, "No, it didn't. Mari listen," she leaned forward in her chair, "I understand that you must have a lot of questions for me, but this isn't the time or the place for me to give you all of the answers that you want."

The girl dipped her head in response as Une glanced at her watch, "It's 7:05 Mari, Brian will be here soon."

Mariemaia lifted her head, she had completely forgotten about her date this evening, "Mom, you don't seriously think that I'm still going?"

"You're going to stand him up?" Une sounded skeptical; it was no secret to her that her daughter was quite smitten with the young man that would soon be coming to her door.

"I'm not going to . . ." Mariemaia smiled and hung her head, "I'll go get changed."

She stood to leave but her mother's voice stopped her before she reached the door, "Agent Gord will be ready to escort you."

Mari stopped dead in her tracks and whirled around, a look of desperation on her face, "Mom, no please."

Une rolled her eyes, "Mari, we're not going to go through this again. You have to have an escort with you when you're –"

Her daughter had already crossed the room and was standing before her, looking frantic, "Yes but Mom, please, not Agent Gord –"

"Agent Gord is a seasoned and highly skilled Preventers agent, he –"

"Mom, he's crazy! Last time he was assigned to my security detail he wouldn't let us watch the movie we wanted to see because he said that it had hidden pictures and subliminal messages embedded in it!"

Une tried not to laugh, feeling the slightest amount of pity for her daughter, "I'll speak to him about the movies."

But this clearly was not enough for her daughter, "Can't it just be someone else instead? Like Agent Maxwell . . . at least he knows to give us a bit of privacy –"

Une's eyes narrowed cutting off Mari's sentence. After a tense moment the older woman relaxed into her chair, "You may ask Agent Maxwell if he would be willing to accompany you tonight . . ."

Mari grinned and turned to leave the room but was stopped by her mother's voice again, ". . . in exchange I'd like Brian to join us for dinner again."

The red haired girl faced her mother, and shifted into her 'diplomatic negotiation' mode, "I will accept on the condition that Milliardo not sit down and place his Beretta 92 on the table and then proceed to glower at him for the duration of the meal." Une opened her mouth to agree, but Mari continued, "Additionally, you will agree not to regale him with tales of what you've done to your subordinates that have disobeyed your orders."

Une shook her head and smiled, which Mari took to constitute a nonverbal agreement to the afore mentioned conditions. Nodding curtly, she spun on her heals and marched out of the library with the intent on locating one braided Preventers Agent and bribing him with whatever was necessary in order to get him to serve as her bodyguard for the evening.

Her shoes clicked on the vast marble floors as she crossed one of the vaulted hallways of the Sanq Kingdom palace . . . Relena's palace. Mariemaia couldn't help but smile; even after all that had happened, Relena had always been kind to her, willing to listen to anything she had to say, her thoughts and opinions, and had slowly been grooming her to enter the political arena.

Mari's pace slowed as her mind once again became clouded with thought. Relena was be returning to here, to her home . . . but then what? The implications of her return were astronomical, but so were the problems that came with it. How were they going to keep her hidden, and once she was revealed to still be alive, (by accident or design) how would they explain her absence? Would her return to the public eye really change the situation of the world that much?

- - - - -

Kristen Philby drained the mug in her hand and leaned over the railing of the balcony hundreds of feet off the ground, taking a moment to appreciate the stunning view that Johannesburg afforded her at sunset; she spent so much time in that accursed bunker, time like this was to be cherished. The 36-year-old woman ran her hand through her long, dark brown hair as the wind swirled it around her face. She paused, listening to the air; even over the sound of the breeze making its way through the marble columns that lined the terrace she could hear the distinct sound of his approach.

"Why good evening Mr. Burgess. To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"

The sound of the old man's cane scrapping across the stone floor grew louder before stopping as he came to stand beside her, "I'm afraid I bring some rather disturbing information, Miss Philby."

She threw him a casual glance, "Oh?"

Guy stood as straight as his old body would allow, "Would you like to hear the 'bad' or the 'mildly annoying' first?"

Kristen laughed a little in a humorless way, "Let's start with the bad."

The old man nodded, and opened a folder he was carrying and held out several pieces of paper to her, which she took and began skimming, "As you can see, Josef's little toy will be finished much sooner than we anticipated. In may in fact be fully operational already."

The woman sniffed at him, "That fool really intends to use this then? To what end I wonder . . ." she added more to herself.

But Guy was ready with an answer, "I don't need to tell you the concern that this has raised among myself and the others. If this machine actually does what Josef built it to, the entire planet will be at his mercy." he turned to look her directly in the eye, "And that includes the five of us."

The brown haired woman said nothing, instead turning her attention back to the sun, dipping below the horizon. Beside her, Guy was apparently perturbed by her unresponsiveness, "Tell me something Miss Philby?"

"Of course, Mr. Burgess."

"Is Nicholas Josef even remotely aware of why you sought him out those five years ago?"

She closed her eyes and chuckled to cover the fact that she was startled by the question . . . but that didn't mean that she was unprepared with an answer, "You mean does he remain ignorant of the fact that the grandfather, who raised him, kept secret the fact that Josef's great-uncle, Nicholas Cherheudohn's brother, a man named Alexander, had a set illegitimate twins before he died with a woman named Frances Caincross? That one of those twins, Alexia Caincross, would marry and have two children of her own, who would end up in the care of her twin brother John after his sister's untimely death? That Alexia's children would eventually discover who their family was and what was taken away from them when their grandfather died in battle before he could marry their grandmother?"

She rounded on him, her voice suddenly peaked with anger and eyes blazing, "Do you mean to ask whether or not my dear second cousin remains blissfully unaware of the fact that he retains at least one living relative whom is also the great-grand child of Leon Cherheudohn?"

Guy smiled knowingly at her, "He does not know then?"

Kristen took a moment to compose herself before responding, "Nicholas should have taken more interest in his family history before he decided to use the family name to for political gain." She stormed away from the balcony, throwing herself into one of the chairs that were scattered across the terrace, "When my brother and I discovered this information, our uncle confessed to us that he had been aware of it all along."

She waived a hand dismissively, "At first I was furious with him, however he agreed to help myself and my brother in our plans to regain the power our family once possessed." Kristen looked back to where Guy was watching her with a slightly amused expression, as though he enjoyed getting a rise out of the usually calm woman. She smiled at him in that way of hers, the one that would force even the most hardened of men to take a subconscious step away from her, "My uncle was honored to sacrifice his life in order to be the nexus for the Echidna Virus and ensure its spread through the ESUN Parliament."

Guy cast a skeptical eye her direction, "And Josef never became suspicious after all your prodding and plotting? He didn't recognize the name Caincross when you told him your uncle had volunteered to be the nexus?"

Kristen rolled her eyes, "The man is an idiot . . . though I suppose I can't hold him completely responsible, his grandfather raised him to believe that he was Leon Cherheudohn's only heir . . . the old man never told him of my brother and I." She stared off into the distance, "To be honest, he probably didn't know . . ."

Without warning she stood from her chair, flinging the piece of furniture aside, "Nicholas Cherheudohn-Josef II is not Leon Cherheudohn's only living heir! His bloodline is just as strong in myself and my brother as –"

The coughing noise from Guy's direction interrupted her. Her eyes looked as though they could melt steel, but he did not seemed phased, "Kristen, my dear, your brother is long since dead, he –"

"Wrong, Mr. Burgess." she stated sharply, "His death was never confirmed, he disappeared –"

"During a highly dangerous mission, Miss Philby." his voice sounded almost as though he was pleading with her, "Please, let us not have this conversation again. Do you really believe that if Preventers had caught him, that they would have let him live?"

She glared at him, her voice cold and even, "Do you really believe that they would have killed him, Mr. Burgess?" She walked back to the railing to join him, "If he was captured while doing reconnaissance on Relena Peacecraft, don't you think that it would have been in the news? That they would have kept him alive for questioning?"

The old man shrugged as much as his stiff body would allow him to, "You're overlooking the possibility that Preventers may not have been the only one that might have discovered him. Your brother had to travel in very dark circles in order to find the kind of information he was looking for, and the fact that he went missing several months before Relena Peacecraft vanished suggests to me that even if he found what he was looking for he was never able to act on it."

Kristen drew in a deep breath, "Josef will pay for his stupidity. My uncle and my brother gave their lives for our dreams; I will claim the birthright which is justly mine, all of ours for that matter."

"Well then," he waved the papers he was holding out in front of her again, "I believe that we will have to do something about your dear cousin before that happens."

Kristen nodded and set the papers on the railing of the balcony, "Then what course of action do you suggest that we take?"

The old man shook his head, "Well that would be our problem now wouldn't it? Josef is simply too much of an icon to easily do away with him. Less than a dozen souls on Earth know that he is merely our puppet, his untimely death would only serve to fracture our forces, who would surely fall into chaos without their revered leader."

"Unless we had someone to replace him." she answered with a knowing, slightly annoyed tone to her voice.

Guy coughed a bit as he responded, "Yes well concerning that . . ."

She stood up from her position of leaning against the railing, "I take it that this would be the 'mildly annoying' portion of your 'rather disturbing' news?"

He nodded, removing a handkerchief from the pocket of his navy blue blazer in the process and holding it to his mouth. After several moments of hacking and wheezing, Guy straightened himself and turned back to Kristen, "My apologies," she waved it off and he continued, "I'm afraid that Commander Uzehasnyurieh is reporting that our prisoner thus far refuses to admit that she's ever been in contact with the girl, let alone divulge any useful information about her."

Kristen shrugged a bit, "She might not be lying. It's possible that they never actually encountered each other or that she simply does not recognize who she is."

"Without obtaining any new information from the prisoner, Commander Uzehasnyurieh does not believe that his team will have a clean opportunity to extract the girl for another month."

Kristen closed her eyes and bowed her head, "That's fine, we are going to need that time to best determine what we're going to do about Josef and his new toy." She turned from the railing to walk back to the doors that led inside her penthouse apartment. "I'm a very patient person."

- - - - -

_"So she's been happy?"_

_Ling leaned back against the wall before answering him, "That's a difficult question to answer. She's not unhappy, and I know that she enjoys and values the work that she's been doing with Keiji . . . but at the same time I believe that she misses her old life, her friends, her family."_

_Heero shook his head; she didn't have to give it all up. He looked back to Ling, her features barely visible in the moonlight, in the background Ryan and Thomas continued to snore peacefully as their train made it's way toward their destination._

_"She's safe where she is though, right?"_

_Ling nodded, "I see to that personally."_

_"But they let her go places that are dangerous, where she's put at risk and –"_

_"Well of course they do." Even in the dark the exasperated expression on the Chinese girl's face was evident, "Heero, there would be no point to having the Nanami if they were just going to be kept locked up in a safe somewhere. Relena wasn't made Kimi so she could sit back and watch this war from the sidelines."_

_He was starting to get riled up now, but did his best to keep his emotions in check, "She's important to Keiji right? Then why are all of you willing to risk her life so easily?"_

_"Heero, it's not as though she's sent into battle on a regular basis." Ling stood from her seat to stand in front of him, glaring at him menacingly, "Relena is extraordinarily well protected, but she sometimes has to put herself at risk in order to accomplish what needs to be done."_

_Ling sighed and let her shoulders fall, "She's not running around with an AK-47, infiltrating bases and blowing things up, she's one of our leaders, we would never let her be put in a situation where she was left unprotected."_

_Heero couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved, "What does she do then?"_

_Ling shrugged, "Basically the same thing she did when she was the Foreign Minister, but a little more hands on. Relena and the other Nanami decide how strike at Josef and his forces most effectively, they meet with rebel factions and non-combative groups to try and bring them to their side, and they monitor the situations within ESUN and try to make sure that none of Keiji's operations will interfere were ESUN's plans." She laughed a bit, "She's hasn't really changed all that much, I don't think so anyway. The entire village adores her, her troops are fiercely loyal to her, and the other Nanami respect her. She just breezed into the village and it was as though she had been there the whole time."_

_Heero nodded knowingly, Relena always had that affect on people._

_"Don't worry, Heero, you'll see her soon."_

- - - - -

Heero awoke with a start, the shooting pain that had stirred him went as quickly as it had come. Carefully, he laid his head back down on the concrete floor . . . and to his surprise made contact with something soft. Slowly, he opened his eyes but found the room he was in to be dark . . . but not dark like the cell had been. A dim moonlight shone through covered windows, but even still he could hardly make out anything in the room other than that he was apparently laying on the floor on some sort of thick, squishy mat. There was a blanket draped over his body and he could feel bandages wrapped around his chest, wrists, and ankles.

He didn't move, afraid that he might alert someone to the fact that he had regained consciousness, but there didn't seem to be anyone around him. He scanned the room again, trying to get has bearings, to remember how he had gotten here, he had no idea where he –

It all suddenly came rushing back to him. He had been rescued from the prison.

- - - - -

_A sudden noise jarred him from his feverish sleep, somewhere off in the distance an there was an explosion but as quickly as it had come the sound was gone again. He tried not to move not wanting to open the wounds on his wrists that had just started to close. Everything was quiet now, but he knew that something was happening, that had been an explosion he heard. Straining his ears he listened as much as his dulled senses would allow him to._

_The seconds ticked by and Heero lost count of how much time had past since he had woken. Maybe he had imagined it, had he been dreaming? Could his delirium finally be getting the better of him? No, that's couldn't be it, was quiet . . . far too quiet. He could not even hear the normal sounds of the prison; the guard's boots clicking on the floor, the occasional clanking of chains or handcuffs . . . and the screaming, it had stopped. He racked his brain, trying to formulate even a guess as to what might be going on, but the silence persisted._

_Paranoia suddenly gripped his mind and overwhelmed his body. What had happened to everyone? Where could all of the guards, the rest of the prisoners for that matter gone? Had they left and taken everyone but him? Why would they leave him here? Thomas and Ryan wouldn't leave without him? How did they get out? Why did they take everyone but him? No, what if they had killed all of them? Why not him? Why Thomas and Ryan? How was he going to find Keiji, find Relena if they had left without him or worse, were dead?_

_His thoughts were interrupted when a noise finally broke the air; he had barely identified it as footstep before, without any sort of warming the door of his cell burst open in explosion of smoke and shredded metal. He resisted the urge to try and see who had entered he shut his eyes; this person might not be friendly, though in his current situation there wouldn't be much he could do either way._

_He heard the footsteps come to a stop next to where his head was and dared to open the eye closest to the floor; the boots the person was wearing were not those that the soldiers at the prison did. Heero continued to listen and heard more doors being cut or blown open outside and suddenly found himself being rolled onto his back by the pair of boots standing next to him. There was no point in pretending any longer, he opened his swollen eyes as best he could to look up at the person standing over him._

_In the dull light that was coming from the now opened hall door, he could just make out the sharp features of a giant of a man, in his late twenties. The man began speaking, it took a minute for him to realize it was not to him, rather into a radio. "There's one in cell nine that's still alive. It's the Preventer, he's not in good shape though."_

_Whoever was on the other end of the radio responded, but neither of them ever got the chance to hear what was being said; gun shots rang out from down the hall._

_"Shit." The man dropped down on the floor next to him and produced a knife from somewhere on his person. "They got here a lot faster than I thought they would." He began cutting through the leather parts of the restraints on his wrists then his ankles._

_Heero lay there waiting for the man to finish as a thought crossed his mind; he wasn't sure that he could walk. The other man seemed to be wondering he same thing. "I think you're going to need a hand getting out of here."_

_Before Heero could nod, the gigantic person had lifted him off the floor by the crook of his arm and flung it over his massive shoulders, indicating that he should hold on to one of the many equipment belts crisscrossing his body. Heero took as firm of a grip as he could as the man started walking towards the door, practically dragging him by his waist as his legs seemed to had lost the will to move. The stopped before what was left of the threshold as the man was reached into the bag hanging by his side and extracted a large handgun which he held out to Heero, "You got enough in you to cover me with this?"_

_Heero could hear sporadic gunfire out side the hall and from other parts of the building. The blood was rushing from his head from being lifted to his feet so quickly, he was fighting to stay conscious but still took the gun from the man who smirked before telling him to cover them as best he could, and dashing out into the hallway._

_The had barely made it out of the cell when Heero felt a something tear through his left side, but he didn't have time to stop and determine the damage. The hallway was suddenly full of people, some apparently with this man, others prisoners like him; some were walking on their own, some were being half dragged half carried like him, and some were completely unconscious, thrown over the shoulders of their rescuers. Bullets were coming at them from behind; without thinking, Heero turned his head as much as he could, squeezing out several well aimed shots before they reached the end of the hall and rounded a corner._

_The man dragging him did not stop, in fact he broke into a full blown sprint. Heero tried to keep up, willing his legs to work but he could feel the hot, sticky liquid seeping from his side and down his leg. His head was swimming as they began to climb a set of metal stairs at the end of the hall. His head dropped to his chest and when he managed to lift it again as door was being thrust open and he was blinded by the flood lights that lined the compound. The cool night air hit his face, reviving him for a moment as the man followed the shouts of his comrades coming from the direction of the forest ahead of them._

_The tree leaves grazed his bare skin, drops of moisture fell on to his face. Everything around him was growing dark but he could not tell if it was due to the forest or blood loss. He closed his eyes for a moment and next he knew they had stopped moving, he was being lifted into something, a cold metal surface underneath him. As the world started to fade away again, the last coherent thought to cross his mind was the sound of helicopter blades._

- - - - -

Heero laid his head back on the pillow, trying to piece together what had happened after that, but found he could not. He searched his memory but only came up with blurry visions of dimly lit rooms, blood curdling screams, . . . and her. Still her. Always her.

He closed his eyes; he had been rescued . . . to where he couldn't say. A soft glow was beginning to fill the room from what he could only assume was the sun coming up. He watched, through tired, hazy eyes as the room began to get lighter and he was able to see his surroundings. The walls were made of gray stone, the lower half of which was lined with bamboo. There was a doorway to his left covered by an ornate silk tapestry, the two small windows had wooden shutters over them. The room was interspersed with plants of various forms and two lacquered chests of drawers sitting on a scrubbed wood floor. Heero rolled his head to one side where a pitcher of water had been left on the floor next to the bed.

Taking a deep breath, Heero closed his eyes and tried to assess the situation. He had been saved from the place he never thought he would leave, but he had no idea what his current circumstances were. As best he could tell, but he had been separated from Ryan and Thomas . . . and Ling was dead. He had nothing, no idea where he was, who he was with, how long he had been here, what they wanted with him, and no way to even start trying to find Relena . . .

Heero inwardly groaned. It had been weeks since he had learned she was alive, still out there somewhere. Now he was possibly even farther away from finding her. Judging by his current situation, those who had rescued him were not after his life, but he still didn't know who they were or what they wanted from him. To come this far and still not have gotten any closer –

He stopped; voices were coming towards him; female voices speaking a language that he didn't recognize. Within a few seconds the silk curtain was being pushed aside and two very old looking women entered. One was hunched over, walking with a cane, the other carried a small basket; both were clearly Asian. Heero didn't move, but he knew that the old women knew he was awake. The tone in their voices shifted to one of surprise and mild delight as they knelt over him, chortling back and forth to each other as they pulled the blanket covering him back.

Heero raised an arm to protest, but they pushed him aside with a reprimanding quality to their voice. He strained his ears, trying to figure out what language they were speaking; it wasn't Cantonese of Mandarin. It was worth a shot, but his Mandarin was horrible at best.

"Bu yao peng!" he yelled at them, as they poked on of the particularly sensitive spots on his chest.

They paused for a moment before continuing despite his warning causing Heero to sharply pull back from their reach and sit up, a searing pain tearing through his side as he did. He had barely gotten any distance from them, when the one with the cane launched herself at him, pushing him down on the bed roll while the other began pulling on his bandages, apparently hell bent on changing them as the other woman held him down on the bed roll by his shoulders.

Heero had officially given up on trying to be polite, "S-Stop!" For a moment they seemed startled and he pushed himself up a bit, deciding to attempt the Duo Maxwell method of communicating in other languages: if you speak slow enough and annunciate loud enough, no matter how stupid the person, they will eventually understand you. "Where – are – we?"

The women looked back and forth to each other for a moment before springing to hold him down again. He tried to sit up again but for frail, old women, they were surprisingly strong. "No, no!" But they had apparently lost all patience for him as well.

The silk curtain was pushed aside again, as Heero was able to turn his head just enough to see around his would be caretakers as a little girl of around five years old entered. She watched the struggle taking place curiously for a moment before approaching one of the old women. The one who had been holding the basket spoke sweetly to the little girl as she continued to pull off Heero's bandaged. The girl grinned at the old woman's words . . . whatever they were, and rushed back out the door she had just entered.

In the moment they had been conversing, Heero managed to draw back from the two women and pulled the upper half of his body into a sitting position. Again they lunged for his shoulders, seemingly intent that he should be laying down, but still he fought them despite the light headedness that was beginning to take over him, "N-no, stop!" They ignored him and he suddenly began to feel frantic; how the hell was he supposed to get out of here and back to his mission with these women bound and determined to keep him lying in bed. "Where – are – we?" he repeated. "Is – this – China?" But they still ignored him and kept talking back and forth as though making pleasant conversation and not holding a grown man down in bed against his will.

If it wasn't for the searing pain in his side, Heero would have fought them more, but as it was all he could do was verbally protest their attention. "No!" He tried to swat their hands away in hopes of gaining their attention, "Listen to me, where are we?! Where is this place?!" Despite the fact that he knew it was futile, he could do nothing else to convey his frustration.

The silk curtain was pushed aside and the little girl entered again, yelling to the old women; this time neither turned their attention from their charge. They answered her briefly and then smiled at him, talking as through he should be pleased somehow. Off in the adjoining room more footsteps could be heard crossing a wood floor and Heero cringed as he wondered what else could possibly be coming this way to torment him.

The little girl was shouting in a gleeful manner at the old women, or maybe it was at him; regardless his view of the door was blocked as he was forced back down on the bedding, probably being told to lie still, he couldn't be sure. But the girl stopped dead as the curtain was pushed aside again and a cool, a female voice broke the air.

"You're in over your head, Yuy."

Heero felt his heart catch in his throat as the girl let out a squeal of delight and spun around to greet the new comer, little feet dashing towards her.

"Kimi!"


	15. Through the Looking Glass

- drum roll -

And here it is, the long awaited reunion! This chapter was so hard to write, it took forever because in my infinite brilliance (yeah right) I decided that I would sit and write out the entire length of Heero and Relena's reunion . . . and when I finished I looked up and it was 22,000 words long. Needless to say that this was bit too long for one chapter, so after some editing and rearranging I finished this part. The good news here is that the next one is now basically done, and I'll have it up pretty quickly, (so don't hate me for how this one goes!) To make it up to all of you, I've included a preview for the next chapter at the end of this one.

In other news, I'm now a registered member of (yes, I know I'm not really on top of all this stuff), so once I figure out how to use it, I'll be posting Occam's Razor there too . . . should anyone have like 22 spare hours to kill and want to go read all fifteen chapter again. Also, thank you to Kandida and Tanukisaint for making me get my act together and get on top of that. Another HUGE thanks to SamuraiGirl7 who is lending me her brain for the rest of this story, (I'm gonna need it).

Anyway, enough of that. For those of you reading MAD, the next chapter will be up soon, as will something new that I'm working on, also set in the Occam's Razor Universe. Until then, thank you for all the review and feedback, and for sticking with the story for so long! Without further delay then, here we go, enjoy!

Occam's Razor

Chapter Fifteen – Through the Looking Glass

Tynan

- - - - -

"_Vice-Foreign Minister?"_

_Relena lifted her head from her paperwork to see her secretary step through the door of her office. She smiled pleasantly at the visitor, secretly happy for the distraction, "Yes Edith?"_

_The older woman walked towards her desk, her usual amiable expression on her face, "I'm very sorry for the interruption ma'am, but your 10:30 appointment is here."_

_Relena felt her eyebrows crinkle in confusion, "My 10:30?"_

_Edith nodded, obviously amused by the fact that Relena could barely keep track of her own schedule, "Yes ma'am, the new head of your security detail. Agent Chang begins his reassignment in three days, his replacement wanted to meet with you before he takes over next week –"_

"_Oh of course, I'd forgotten." Relena mentally slapped herself for not remembering that Wufei was beginning his new assignment in the Preventers Special Operations Division next Monday. He had been very clear from the time he took the position as head of her security that it would only be a temporary assignment; and indeed it had. He had been with her for only three months; however in those three months they had come to share a common goal. Through the mission they had taken upon themselves to protect their friends and loved ones from an unforgiving world they had formed a mutual respect for each other, a bond of sorts . . . dare she maybe call it a friendship?_

_It was impossible to name what had developed between her and her soon to be ex-head of security, all she could say of it was that she had grown fond of Chang Wufei over the past three months, and she would miss working with him. He knew her habits, her schedule, and routine the same way she knew his. While she was confident that whatever agent the Preventers Bureau had now assigned to her security detail would be more than competent and perfectly capable, she couldn't help be feel a slight sense of annoyance and possibly a pang of dread at the prospect of going through the whole 'getting-to-know-you' process all over again._

_But despite all this there was no way around it. She sighed as she stood from her desk and crossed the room towards the door, taking her cup of coffee with her._

"_He's waiting for you in your private conference room ma'am. He assures me that he won't take too much of your time." Edith led her out of her private office and into the suite lobby of the offices of the Vice-Foreign Minister. As they entered, one of the many doors that led into the lobby opened and Josephina Tumalty, her Chief of Staff entered from the kitchen area, cup of coffee in hand, catching sight of her boss and smiling._

"_Good morning, Miss Relena!" Josephina set her cup down and took a stack of papers from Edith's desk, "I'm glad I caught you, I've just returned from my meeting with the Department of the Interior and –"_

"_Josephina, I'm very sorry. I have the new head of my security detail waiting for my in the conference room. Could we –"_

_The other woman's face split into her trademark sly smile, "Oh that's who I saw signing in with Edith." she stepped closer so that she was now standing next to her boss, "I've gotta say Relena, as much as I'm going to miss the sight Agent Chang's perfect ass strutting around this place, this new guy's not a bad trade off._

_Relena smiled and rolled her eyes slightly; Josephina was in her late forties but elicited endless pleasure from tormenting the younger men who frequented the office . . . especially Wufei who was easily flustered by her brazen comments. "Jo, sometimes I think that you are trying to get me assassinated by frightening off my security teams with your advances."_

_Her Chief of Staff pretended to look affronted, 'Miss Relena! In the first place, they are hardly advances, merely a little harmless flirting. Secondly, it is no fault of my own that the Preventer's Bureau saw fit to issue their agents uniforms that happen to accentuate certain areas of their body, while simultaneously issuing jackets that do not come down low enough to cover them."_

_Relena made an unsuccessful attempt not to laugh as Jo continued, "I may be getting up there in years, Relena, but I'm not dead. All I am saying is that I wouldn't mind this new young man following me around night and day . . . especially night."_

"_Jo!" Relena slapped her arm playfully before leaving the lobby and walking down the hall to her conference room, suddenly aware of that fact that she had kept "this new young man" waiting far longer than was polite. She quickened her pace down the hall, flinging the door open in haste, and almost tripping over her own feet in an effort to compensate for her lack of poise._

"_I'm so very sorry for keeping you waiting, sir. One of my staff –"_

_Relena's breath left her chest as her eyes came to rest upon the room's sole occupant. A torrent of emotions she could not describe in mere words assaulted her senses and drained the blood from her face. Shock, delight, alarm, fear, glee, and uncertainty gripped her, threatening to crush her at any moment should she even breathe wrong._

_Movement in front of her brought her out of her daze, as the Preventer stood from his seat in an informal, but very military greeting and nodded at her in acknowledgement, his face calm, expectant and perhaps a little curious as she collected herself._

"_Heero . . ."_

- - - - -

With a strength he didn't realize he still possessed Heero pushed the two old women off of him, the pain in his side suddenly meaningless. As he sat up he vision grew dark and blurry for a moment as the blood rushed from his head, but it quickly came back into focus and he twisted himself to look in the direction that the voice had come from.

Her feet were bare but half covered by a pair of loose fitting, black silk pants. Her arms, and indeed the rest of her body were still slim, but obviously more toned than he remembered. As his eyes continued to travel up her form he could just make out the top of the faint, but familiar pink scar that started just below her collar bone; it disappeared into a white, open necked tank top, but he knew that it ran down the middle of her chest to the top of her stomach. Just above it was another scar, one he didn't recognize that slashed its way from the top of the left side her neck downward across the upper part of her chest. Her hands were no longer perfectly manicured, her nails were short and her fingers smudged with something that looked like dirt. Her complexion was still pale and smooth, though her hair seemed a little lighter; it hung in two thick braids next to her ears which reached down to her slim waist, she had apparently grown her bangs out as well.

All he could think was that she looked exactly the same, but completely different.

"Relena . . ." he breathed, the word coming out strangled sounding as the rest of them died on his lips.

She set the little girl down on the floor and smiled at him serenely, "Hello, Heero."

Before he even realized what he was doing he was on his feet, any pain he had felt now completely forgotten. He took a ragged step towards her, quickly realizing how weak his body was as his footsteps faltered and he staggered a few more steps before his legs could no longer support his weight. But even as he began to fall, Relena had closed the gap between them, catching him as he fell against her tiny body, supporting his weight so that he could lean against her and stand as much as he was able.

His head was swimming as the blood rushed from it yet again, but he managed lifted his arms to wrap them around her petite frame, pulling her body against his own. Two small arms came to rest around his neck and a soft voice whispered his name.

She smelt like jasmine and fresh mountain air and she was just as soft as he had remembered. He tightened his grip on her, drawing her as close to himself as he could, terrified that if he let go, even the tiniest bit, she would somehow disappear from his arms. But, no this was real, she was here, after all these years he had found her.

He did not know how long they remained in each other's embrace; it was only a sudden realization of wetness on his face and a soft choking noise from the woman in his arms that brought him back to reality. She was crying. He responded by drawing her against himself once again despite the fact that he knew there was no physical way possible for him to hold her any closer.

"Heero –"

"No." he cut her off as he recognized the tone in her voice was one somewhere between concern and protest. He had no idea what she was about to say, but right now he didn't want to hear it.

"Heero please, you need to –"

"I said no." But even as the words left his mouth he felt what little strength he had failing him. "Relena –"

She was moving him back to the bed and not having it in him to protest he allowed her to guide them back to where he had been laying down, barely registering the words that she was speaking, "You're still very sick, you had very advanced case of Malaria and have to rest."

His vision was going from blurry to focused again as she helped him sit down on the bed roll; he noted that the old women and the girl had apparently left the room at some point as they were no where in sight. She was pulling back the covers for him before she gently put her hands on his shoulders and tried to have him lay down, but he stopped her, taking her hands from his shoulders and holding them. He tried to speak but his voice was failing him along with his consciousness.

"Relena . . ."

"Close you eyes Heero." Somehow he was suddenly on his back and she was pulling a blanket up over him as the world faded to black, but her voice still reached his ears.

"I'll still be here when you wake up."

- - - - -

_Relena closed her eyes as her bedroom door was pushed open and several people dressed exactly as she was made their way inside. She recognized Sally's voice; her normally calm and commanding tones wavered and held a slight tone of panic. Soon the white-suited people were sprawled out across her room, systematically checking whatever they could find. Taking a deep breath she stepped out from behind the door and silently dropped to the floor, mimicking the actions of the man a few feet away from her._

_It was exactly as Wufei had said, they were covered head to toe and did not even look up when she joined their group. After several tense minutes a beeping sound rang through the room and eight heads all looked in the direction that it came from. Relena recognized Sally's figure as she checked a printout that was coming from a machine that had just spit out before shouting that the room was clear. Some of the other techs removed their masks and goggles; Relena was thankful to see that some of them did not. One of them left the room, presumably to go downstairs._

_It seemed as though the door had barely shut before it burst open again and Relena looked up to find the one person she was hoping to avoid step through the door way._

_Heero did not even glance in her direction, instead heading straight for Sally and demanding information of her. The two continued to talk for a few moments and Relena turned back to the carpet lost in her own thoughts. Heero looked frantic like she had never seen him before and she suddenly found herself consumed with guilt. He did not deserve this, to be left thinking that she was dead after she had been so cold to him. She was not actually angry with him, hurt yes, but not angry. Truth be told, if she had awoken that morning and he had still been beside her she would have been even more surprised than if he had left. She knew that he was sorry, he had tried to talk to her since it had happened and as much as it killed her, as much as she had desperately wanted to him how much he meant to her, that she loved him and wanted to be with him, she could not._

_Sorting out her feelings was impossible in this situation, there was no way to tell how she would have felt if she had not been plotting to leave all of them. She had not planned to sleep with Heero, it had just happened and his actions provided the means she needed to do what Wufei had instructed her to. She felt horrible, knowing that Heero would never even have considered that she was about to disappear; for her the state of affairs of her life had been extraordinary, for Heero they had simply been out of the ordinary. She had known that her life was about to change forever, he had not been privileged to the fact that his was about to as well._

"_Good, get the lights!"_

_Sally's voice startled her from her thoughts and she looked nervously around the room before realizing that she was the one being addressed, nearly tripping over her own feet she stood and practically dived for the slight switch, throwing the room into darkness. Blue lights illuminated themselves all around her and a shout from her bathroom sent Sally and Heero bolting towards the room. Relena lifted her head and watched and the people around her riffled through her belongs, daring to poke their noses where no one else ever would have . . . but she didn't care. There was yelling coming from the bathroom, followed by one of the lab techs emerging and going straight for the door. _

_Relena turned her eyes back to the carpet she was supposed to be examining but knew that she would not find anything there. No one in this room would find anything, she has seen to that._

_Something suddenly connected with her leg and to her horror she looked up to find a familiar pair of blue eyes looking back. Panic gripped her and lurched forward, trying to put as much distance between them as possible, but Heero had already taken off towards the door slamming it behind him._

_Her heart was racing and her breathing was ragged; Wufei had specifically warned her to be on guard at all times, that Heero would be here and he would be on a rampage._

"_Alright everyone, pack it up and wait for Agent Po outside. The crime scene unit's on their way over."_

_As if in a trance, Relena stood, gathering the metal cases that looked like they contained tools and equipment, but actually held the clothes she had been wearing, discarded boxes of hair dye and eyebrow wax, a stained tarp, and several thick strands of honey blonde hair about a foot and a half in length._

_She stood outside the door with the other techs and waited for Sally who emerged and began doling out instructions. She felt twitchy and nervous, not even hearing Sally's words as she shifted back and forth on her feet, suddenly desperate to get as far away from this place as possible. She followed the group down the stairs, her brother and sister-in-law no where to be seen._

"_Hey!"_

_Relena felt her heart catch in her throat as she heard someone approach her from behind, a thousand scenarios racing through her head and none of them ending well. A hand fell on her shoulder and turned her around, a pair of familiar eyes locking with her own._

"_The truck's this way." Wufei told her quietly. She followed him out the door and on the lawn, past the dozens of vehicles that now covered it._

"_Try to look like you're giving me information, Relena. You're supposed to be blending in."_

_She shook her head, eyes suddenly brimming with tears that threatened to fall at any moment as Wufei guided her in the direction of one of the many trucks that littered the lawn. "I don't think I can do this." she barely choked out._

"_Well you don't have a choice now." Wufei muttered to her between clenched teeth. "Just get in the truck, go back to HQ and –" _

"_I know what I'm supposed to do!" she snapped at him despite herself, "I said I just don't know if I can."_

_In a flash of black and green, Wufei seized her by the shoulders and pushed her against the side of the truck, "And I said that you don't have a choice now!" He lowered his voice and took a step back, "We both knew that there were risks involved in this, you can't back out now, there is literally no way out of this situation. You have to calm down, pull your self together and –"_

"_Wufei!"_

_She watched Wufei's eyes widen in surprise as her own did the same at the familiar voice. He mouthed to her to get into the truck and began to edge her way towards it without trying to look suspicious but was not quick enough. Heero was suddenly on top of both of them, eyes blazing like she had never seen, and a presence radiating from his body that scared even her. He looked back and forth between them for less than a second before stepping closer, "Well?"_

_Relena racked her brain, trying to come up with something, anything to get away from him –_

"_They still don't know anything Heero, she's taking some things back to run tests –"_

_Without warning he had spun in her direction, his voice terrifying, "__That's exactly what the last guy said! How many tests are you going to run before you can tell us something?!" _

_Relena felt her heart race and tried to step back from him but he grabbed the girl by the shoulders turning her to look at him, his face set in hard resolve but his eyes desperate and frantic. "Billions are spent on your budget, with the best technology the world has to offer you should have had something to tell us over an hour ago! This is completely unacceptable, if I don't hear something from you personally within the next – "_

_"Heero, stop it! Come on man, it's not her fault." Relena stiffened as Duo appeared from seemingly no where, taking Heero's arms from her shoulders and guiding him away. She could not stop herself from shaking, seeing him like this was both horrifying and heartbreaking. She felt liquid beginning to sting her eyes again and Heero's form became blurry as he and Duo walked back towards the manor. There was a hand on her shoulder, pushing her towards the truck and she was vaguely aware of getting inside. Off in the distance, Heero had disappeared inside a car and was now lost from her sight._

"_Relena."_

_She barely heard Wufei as he told her that he'd see her in a day or so, she didn't notice as he shut the back doors and the vehicle began moving, the flashing lights and muffled voices barely registered with her senses as they left the Peacecraft Manor. The only thing that flitted across her mind was the image of the man she cared for more than anyone else walking away from her, believing her gone, and knowing that she might never see him again._

_- - - - -_

"_He's really your friend?"_

_Relena smiled gently at the little girl, who said her name as Ashley and seemed to be doing everything in her power not to break down into tears again. "Yes he is. He's a Preventer so if you go tell him that you're lost he'll help you find your daddy."_

_At the mention of her father, Ashley's eyes began to water again. She looked back towards where Heero was sitting on a bench a few hundred feet away, laptop in front of him as he typed away, then turned back to Relena, "He looks mean."_

_Relena stifled a laugh, "Yeah he does, but he's not so bad." Ashley still looked hesitant though and Relena decided it was time to use her trump card. She reached into her pocket and extracted a leather card folder, removing a carefully folded piece of paper from it and holding it out to the girl, "Look," she pointed to the picture, "here's both of us and all of our friends."_

_Ashley took the picture, examining it closely as though she expected it to be fake, "All of these people are your friends?"_

_Relena nodded, "Yes, see there's me and there's him." She looked back up at the girl who still looked hesitant, "Ashley, if he was really so scary would all these people want to be his friend?"_

_The girl shook her head while stifling a hiccup and handed the picture back to here. Relena smiled and turned back to where Heero was closing his laptop and standing from the bench. "You'd better hurry, it looks like he's getting ready to leave."_

_With wide eyes and a squeak of surprise Ashley stood. "Thank you." she muttered quietly before dashing in Heero's direction. Relena watched her go, pushing her way through the people enjoying the beautiful Scandinavian weather and towards Heero._

"_You really shouldn't be carrying that picture around with you."_

_Relena rolled her eyes as Motoko came to stand beside her, "If you were captured and they found that, they might figure out who you were."_

"_You worry too much Motoko," she threw the dark haired woman a sideways smile, "that's what makes you so good at your job."_

_Motoko sighed and let her shoulders fall, "Come on, Sean's waiting with the car."_

_Relena nodded but did not move, her eyes transfixed on Ashley as she approached a confused looking Heero; even from here she could tell the little girl had started crying again. She laughed to herself as she watched the Perfect Soldier try to calm the girl down before finally giving up and lifting her off the ground, carrying her back towards the Parliament Building. Off in the distance she could hear Motoko trying to get her attention, but her Intelligence Officer was just going to have to wait for a moment._

_She wanted to be left alone as she watched Heero disappear from her sight once again._

_- - - - -_

"_Kimi."_

_Relena lifted the radio to her ear, beside her Liam leaned in to hear, "Go ahead, Cong."_

"_The Preventers sniper took out Ghent."_

_She lifted her eyes to meet Liam's, who cast her a small smile and a shrug. "You've confirmed that he's dead?"_

_Cong let out noise that sounded like exasperation, "Kimi, I can see the hole in the guy's chest from here, trust me, he's not getting up."_

_To her left, her Second in Command stifled a laugh, but she ignored him and answered Cong, "Alright, give the fall back order. Try to stay out of the way of the Preventers. Liam and I will meet you at the rendezvous point."_

_Through the gunfire she could not hear his reply, but she knew that she did not need to. She turned her head back to Liam who had already gathered their gear from the balcony where they had perched themselves in the old church. Relena took a moment to give him a once over, to say that he looked absurd in the layers of black fabric and veils that covered him head to toe was an understatement. He caught sight of her staring at him rolled his eyes, "You done staring?"_

_Relena smiled but never got the chance to answer as at that moment she caught sight of a familiar figure suddenly plummeted from the high ceiling, hitting the floor with a sickening noise. Relena felt her heart stop, immediately recognizing the man now struggling to lift himself up from the floor; she could not help herself, her voice escaped her throat before she could stop it._

"_Heero!!"_

_Instinct kicked in and just as she was about to launch herself over the balcony railing and onto the floor below but a strong hand gripped her shoulder and pulled her back, "Don't you even think about it!"_

_Relena rounded on him, "Liam, let go of me this second, that's –"_

"_I know who he is," her friend growled back at her, "but, if he's already dead I'm not going to let you get yourself killed too by going down there!"_

_Relena's heart caught in her throat, as she looked back to where Heero was lying on the floor not moving, the puddle of blood collecting around his head visible even from her perch some one hundred feet away._

_No, he couldn't be dead._

_Even as the thought crossed her mind, Heero lifted his head and she unwittingly let out a soft groan. He was alive, she told herself, trying to calm her racing heart as she watched Heero pull himself towards one of the pews. She was brought out of her daze by another movement just behind Heero's prone body. A horribly, twisted looking man dropped down from the rafters, landing gracefully on his feet and reaching into his jacket as he advanced on Heero._

"_Shit." Liam swore beside her, "Stay here!" and with that, the massive man nimbly lifted himself over the balcony railing, barely pausing as he hit the ground and dashed towards Heero, snatching something from the floor as he went, and seconds later bringing it down on the man's head. Relena felt herself cringe as she heard the man's skull crack open and saw blood splatter the air as Heero's would be killer fell to the ground. Relena closed her eyes, the thought that she was glad Liam considered her a friend flicking through her mind._

_Collecting herself she grabbed the bag that Liam had left and looked back towards her Second in Command who was apparently distracted by something. Relena's eyes widened as they came to rest on Duo and Wufei's unmistakable forms and Liam leveled his gun at them. Before she could even think to defuse the situation her radio crackled beside her and Cong's voice rang through the speaker._

"_Where are you guys, Kimi? We're leaving now, you've got two seconds to radio me back or I'm coming back in there!"_

_She pressed the transmit button, "We're on our way out."_

"_Get your ass to the front of the church, we'll meet you there with the car."_

_Relena nodded to no one in particular and stowed the radio in her bag, slinging it over her shoulder and dropping from the balcony onto the floor below, barely taking a moment to regain her balance before she bolted towards where Liam was standing over Heero. Her eyes fell on his unconscious body and it took all of her will power to keep herself from going to him to make sure he was still alive. She put a hand on Liam's shoulder and without even turning to face her, he took off down the aisle and towards the doors, with her right behind them. _

_Liam turned back to yell something to Wufei, but she did not hear it; instead she tried to keep her legs steady underneath of her, her knees seeming to become nothing more than jello as she and Liam burst out of the church. A car appeared from behind one of the buildings and had barely come to a stop when Liam wrenched the back door open and pushed her inside. As they sped away she could still hear gunfire and explosions coming from the church. She lifted her head to find Erin sitting opposite her, a look of concern on her friend's face._

"_Kimi, you alright luv?"_

_Without any warning, Relena felt her stomach turn over and what little breakfast she had had that morning rose into her mouth. She turned her head to the side as she was sick; her body went cold and suddenly she couldn't stop shaking._

"_Lena!" Erin was now beside her, pushing a slightly taken back looking Liam out the way, "Lena, are you hurt?!"_

_Relena tried to steady herself, but even as she did her eyes began to sting with tears, "Heero . . ." Relena closed her eyes, unable to bring herself to finish the sentence. The car went over a particularly large bump and Cong shouted an apology from the front._

"_He was with the Preventers inside." Liam explained for her. "He fell out of the ceiling and –"_

_Erin cut him off with a sharp gasp, she knew perfectly well Relena's history with the man, "He's not –"_

_Relena shook her head, not caring that she was hysterical in front of three of her team members, "I don't know." she lifted her head, Erin's understanding eyes meeting her, "Erin, he looked . . ." As she broke down into tears, her friend's arms came to rest around her. "What if he died? How would I even know?"_

_The Irish woman sighed, "We'll find a way luv, don't you be worryin'"_

_- - - - - _

"_Cracked ribs, separated shoulder, broken leg, massive concussion, surgery to repair internal bleeding, and almost a hundred stitches in his arm . . . gotta tell ya, Kimi, I'm amazed yer boyfriend's still alive here and all."_

_Relena shook her head but did not bother to correct Erin as she replaced Heero's chart at the foot of the hospital bed he was sleeping in. Truth be told, she was amazed he was still alive as well. When she and Erin had snuck into Ichtaca base she fully expected to search the compound for Heero only to find him in a box waiting to be flown back to Europe; Erin however insisted that they check the hospital first and after only a minute on the admin computer they found him listed as being in the ICU in critical but stable condition. _

_If it had been anyone but Erin that had come with her, they would have insisted that that was enough and it was time to leave before they were discovered. But Erin had appeared from one of the storage rooms with scrubs and nurse's masks and led her to Heero's room where they had slipped inside._

_She looked back down at him still unable to convince herself that he was in fact alive and going to live . . . he had looked on the verge of death at the church. Unable to stop herself, she reached down to brush a strand of his ever unruly hair from his face. Seeing him like this, asleep and looking so peaceful, it was almost impossible to imaging that when he was awake he was one of the most dangerous people alive. She had always known this, but somehow it never applied to her. Relena knew that she possessed the distinction of being possibly the only person on Earth or the colonies who could truly claim that she had never been afraid of Heero Yuy. She had always seen something else in him, a gentleness and kindness that it seemed no one but she was aware existed._

_She was lost as she watched him sleep, around them machines whirred and monitors beeped as his heart pumped blood through his body. This shouldn't still be happening, Heero should not be laying in this bed attached to these pieces of equipment after almost dying again. She didn't leave so that his life could still be filled with pain and injury._

"_Kimi, we best be going, luv."_

_Relena nodded at Erin's words, but still could not take her eyes from the man sleeping before her. Before she even realized what she was doing she had leaned over him and bent her head down to press her lips to his forehead through her mask. She stepped back, taking one last moment to run her hand over his cheek, silently promising that she would return to him when this was over. _

_But no sooner had she removed her hand from his face than Heero's eyes snapped open and he lurched forward in his bed, sitting up and looking around the room wildly. Relena instinctually jumped back startled as Erin ran to his bed to try and force him back down. The two continued to talk and Relena pretended to busy herself with the machines around them. It was the door opening again that took her attention away from them as Wufei entered. She watched his eyes come to rest on her and she knew he immediately recognized her. He began to yell at Erin and just as they were about to leave Wufei seized her by the arm, dragging her down the hall under the pretense of "having a word with her"._

_She knew that she was being led away to be reprimanded for her carelessness, but she didn't care. Her intent had been to come here to make sure that her friend was alive and she would not apologize for that._

_- - - - -_

"_What do you mean they didn't find them in Hai Phong?!" Relena felt her chest constrict with panic as Liam took a seat opposite her._

"_I mean that the guys you sent to meet Ling and whoever she was coming here with waited there for a week and they never showed up."_

_Relena stood and ran a hand through her hair, "Ling must brought them a different way. If she thought that they were being followed –"_

"_Kimi," the tall American cut her off, "if that were the case they would have been here by now." Relena turned away from him, trying to hid her frustration, but Liam continued, raising his voice to make his point clear, "Something happened to them. Doyle told us that they had left almost a month ago and they still haven't arrived."_

_Relena let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding; Liam was right, something had happened to Ling . . . and that meant something had happened to Heero. She turned around to look at her second in command who was bent over the table that was covered with maps. Relena collected herself, still trying to find the best way to word what she was about to say, "Those reports we received two and a half weeks ago, about the Oprichniki boarding and sinking that passenger ship in the Indian Ocean, do you think . . ."_

"_I'd say it's a pretty good bet that Ling was on that boat, Kimi." He stood from his seat and crossed the room stopping right in front of her, "What do you want to do?"_

_Relena closed her eyes for a moment, mentally shifting into tactical mode, "If they sunk the ship that means that they found something on it, probably Ling and her party. The Oprichniki are ruthless, they wouldn't kill people that they could take alive and use for questioning."_

_Liam nodded, "You want to start checking out the prisons, see what we come up with?"_

"_Get Motoko and Proto and come up with a grid, put together a map of the known Oprichniki prisons in the area. Start with the South East Asian Peninsula; that would have been closest to where they sank the ship." Liam nodded again and began to walk towards the door, but she stopped him, "And Liam, the most obscure ones are probably our best chance." Her voice faltered at the implications of her words, "If the Oprichniki got their hands on a bunch of Keiji operatives, they'd want to make sure that they were never found."_

_- - - - - _

_Helicopters roared above her, their lights blinding her as they touched down on the landing pads, illuminating the night. A misty rain was falling around them, surrounding the people and helicopters in an odd, unearthly looking fog. She saw Liam immediately and took off in his direction; by the time she reached him he was already out of the helicopter with his back to her as he began removing something from inside. His back and side were covered in blood and the side of the helicopter was riddled with bullet holes; the other three were the same, one of them emitting a steady stream of thick, black smoke._

_Relena turned her attention back to the man in front of her, "Liam, what the hell happ –" but her words died as he turned back around. In his arms was a pale, thin, and bleeding Heero. His skin was white like she had never seen anyone's, it glistened with sweat but looked dull and lifeless, blood soaked his left side and down his leg, his wrists and ankles raw and bloodied, he was thin and frail looking, from just glancing at him even she could tell that his heart was struggling just to keep him alive. A desperate and almost deranged sounding voice that she did not recognize suddenly erupted from her throat._

"_Someone get a medic!"_

- - - - -

"Kimi . . . Kimi, luv come on, wake up."

Relena's head snapped up, almost hitting Erin who was bent over her, shaking her shoulders. "Wha . . ." she answered thickly, looking around the dark room.

"You fell asleep . . . and not in yer bed." Erin answered as she flicked on a small lamp causing Relena to blink at the light now assaulting her eyes.

"Well, there's someone else in there right now, Erin."

"Yeah . . ." Erin took a step closer to where Heero slept on the futon style bedding, "How's he doin'?"

She rubbed her eyes as she answered, "Better, Zhi was here earlier today to take out his stitches. He said that Heero's out of the woods but still needs to rest."

"And how are you doing?"

"Well considering that I wasn't locked up and tortured in a secret prison for almost a month while picking up Malaria at the same time . . ."

Erin smiled softly at her, "That's not what I meant, Lena."

"I know." she answered quietly, "I'm not sure how I'm doing yet. I guess we'll find out once he's better and can tell me if he hates me or not."

A noise somewhere between a snort and a sigh came from Erin, "He doesn't hate you Lena, he wouldn't have come all the way here if he did."

Now it was Relena's turn to snort, "You'd be amazed at what Heero Yuy would go through to exact revenge." Erin cast her a somewhat skeptical look as though she wanted Relena to supply an example, "One time he and two of his friends drugged mine, Hilde, and Dorothy's food and left us on top of a sky scrapper where they had taken our beds as well . . . this was after they broke into my office at night and attached all of the furniture in there to the ceiling."

Erin laughed, "And what did you do to deserve this?" Relena only lifted her eyebrows in a manner that would suggest she had no idea what Erin could possibly be implying, "Right, I'll ask him when he wakes up." She crossed the room and opened a closet, pulling out another set of bedding and laying it on the floor, "In the meantime, you should get some rest."

Relena nodded and helped Erin with the bedding. She was just lying down when Erin turned off the lamp and muttered to her that she'd see her the next morning, but had fallen asleep before her friend even closed the door behind her.

- - - - -

"_Do you ever wonder what our lives would be if they weren't this?"_

_Heero looked over at her where Relena was perched on the sea wall. Before them the vast ocean stretched around New Port City, glistening gold and red in the sun set. He stood next to where she was sitting with her legs dangling over the other side of the eighty foot drop, below her feet the waves tore at the rocky shore. "What do you mean?"_

_Her eyes were thoughtful as she turned to face him, but she wore a smile, "I mean if we weren't who we were, an ex-Gundam pilot and the Foreign Minister . . . do you wonder what our lives would have been?"_

"_I've never thought about it, I guess."_

"_Really?"_

_Heero shrugged, "There's no point to thinking about something that would never happen." She cast him a look as if asking him to continue, "To think about what our lives would have been like could mean so many different things. Do you mean if Dr. J had never found me? If your father hadn't been killed? Or do you mean if I hadn't been born in the colonies and you in the Sanq Kingdom? Or do you mean if we had not been born who we are, if we weren't born in a time of war?"_

_She seemed to stop and think for a second, "The last one, I suppose."_

"_Well then we probably wouldn't exist, would we?" he answered simply with a small smile, "So then there really isn't anything to think about."_

_She slapped his arm playfully, "I just meant, do you wonder what might have become of us if we hadn't been forced into these lives?"_

"_No." his short answer caught her off guard, the confusion on her face was evident, "I don't wonder because I can't imagine my life any other way, I can't conceive of being anyone but who I am now, and I wouldn't want to be."_

_Relena considered him for a moment, studying his eyes with her own, then turning back to look out across the water, "Heero?"_

"_Yeah?"  
_

"_I think that even if we hadn't been born into these lives, we still would have found each other . . . somewhere."_

- - - - -

Light was fighting its way through his eyelids, forcing him back into the world against his will. He opened his eyes and quickly shut them again as the light continued to accost them.

"Hey, well look who's joined us mortals back in the land of the livin'."

Heero lifted his head only to be met with a pair of penetrating bluish gray eyes staring back at him, "We was startin' to think that you'd be leavin' us." She stepped back letting Heero get a look at her; she was average height and slender, looking to be in her mid-twenties with fair skin and elegant looking features that were speckled with faint freckles. Her auburn hair hung down around her shoulders and framed her face.

He was disoriented to say the least, but as he pulled himself into a sitting position it all came rushing back to him. Relena. He rounded on the woman sitting next to him, "Where's Relena?!"

Two hands forced him back down and again he was met with those piercing eyes again , "Alright, first rule of Shitou: You never, absolutely never, utter the name 'Relena' here. Properly, everyone calls her 'Kimi' but if yer not quite used to that you can be callin' her 'Lena', but that's all."

Heero stared at the woman incredulously for a moment, trying to keep himself from getting angry, "I didn't ask what to call her, I asked where she is."

The woman stood and walked over to a short table where she poured herself a cup of tea, "Something came up that she had ter go attend to, she asked me to come watch over you. Figures that you'd be choosin' to wake up in the two hours that she's been gone. Would you like a cup?"

"No, I'd like to see Rel– Kimi." he stated forcefully.

The redhead shrugged, "Well, if you be feelin' up to it, I can take you there."

That was all he needed to hear; flinging the covers aside and ignoring the stiff, sore feeling that encompassed his body, he stood from the bed and scanned the room, not much had changed since he'd last seen it. The woman in front of him set her tea cup down and rolled her eyes, taking a step towards him and extending her hand, "I'm Erin by the way."

Heero shook it awkwardly, "So where are we going?"

"Well," Erin stepped away from him and picked something up off the floor, stuffing it into his hand, "we're not going anywhere until you get dressed." She spun on her heals and marched towards the doorway, "I'll be waiting outside when you're ready."

Heero looked down at the clothes in his hands, a pair of loose fitting cargo pants, a long sleeved green t-shirt and a pair of boots, and pulled them on. He pushed the silk curtain in the doorway aside and entered the next room, which looked much like the first with the notable exceptions that there were chairs, a table, and a small kitchen in this one. After a quick search he found the door that apparently led outside; Erin was sitting on the edge of what appeared to be a small porch waiting for him.

"Hmm, that was quick."

He ignored her comment as he looked out over the vast scene before him. Green covered mountains rose into the sky all around the village, eventually disappearing into the fog and the gray sky. His eyes traveled downward to the where the village itself was sprawled out across several steep hills that merged and separated from each other with no apparent rhyme or reason. Most of the buildings that dotted the landscape appeared to be made out of the same gray stone as the one he had just emerged from; many of them seemed to be built into the hills as if they would topple over if left to stand on their own.

The ground was covered in a thick carpet of grass, with the occasional path cutting though it. Men, women, and children were going about their daily lives as though they did not live in a hidden, Keiji village. At the edges of the village the jungle was beginning to creep in, as though to remind all those who lived here that they were merely guests in these mountains.

"Nice view eh?" Erin rose from her seat and stood up next to him, "I've got to say that I think of the seven villages, Shitou's definitely the most scenic."

"This is Relena's home now . . ." he said more to himself, but loud enough for Erin to hear.

She threw him a sideways look, "I'll let that one slide because I know you were talking to yourself." With that Erin began down the steep path that led up to the building they had just emerged from. Heero took one last look at the sight before then stepped off the porch to catch up with Erin.

He fell in step beside her as she led him down the winding path and into what looked like the center of the village, "That's Kimi's house then?"

Erin nodded, "Yeah, I keep tryin' to tell her that she should move into one of the houses closer to the base, but as she pointed out, it's only about a half a mile walk. Besides, I think that she likes havin' her home separate from her work so ter speak."

Heero silently nodded, that sounded exactly like her.

"Hey Erin!"

The two of them both stopped and turned in the sound of the voice, which was apparently coming from a man now jogging towards them. He was in his mid to early thirties, tall and skinny with short brown hair and large eyes. Something about his appearance reminded Heero of an overly eager child. The man stopped before them, pausing to catch his breath before speaking, "You headed to go see Kimi?"

Erin smiled softly at the man, "Yep, her friend here's finally up and on his feet again, thought that I'd take him to her while showin' him around a bit." She turned to Heero while gesturing towards the man, "Heero, this is Sean Ephialtes, Sean this is an old friend of Kimi's, Heero Yuy."

Heero held out his hand, which Sean glared at for a moment before shaking it, "You're the Preventer?"

"Is that a problem?" It was more of a dare than a question; Heero could already tell he didn't like this man.

Sean brushed off the comment, "Pulling you out of that prison was mess, Kimi had the whole village trying to find you guys . . . just wanted to see what the big deal was."

With a pang of guilt for not thinking of them earlier, Heero remembered Thomas and Ryan . . . though he wasn't about to ask what happened to them in front of this guy. For the time being however, he seemed content to talk to Erin. "So is she still locked up in her little meeting?"

Erin glanced down at her watch, "If she's not finished by now, she should be. 'Sides, she asked me to come get her if Heero woke up."

"Well then," his eyes narrowed in Heero's direction, "I wouldn't want to keep you two waiting then, I'll stop by to see her later." With that he spun on his heels and continued off the other direction, leaving Heero to wonder what the hell had crawled up his ass and died.

As though Erin could read his mind, she answered his question, "Don't take that personally, it's not you . . . well, actually I suppose it is you."

Heero wrinkled his eyebrows in a confused way as they began walking again, "I managed to personally offend him before even meeting him?"

"Ah, no, no. What I mean is that, well now this is only my opinion, but frankly I think I'm right. The matter is that, Sean's got a bit of a thing for Lena ya see." Heero felt his stomach lurch unexpectedly at these words, "Needless to say, it's not in any way reciprocated mind you, truth be told I'm not even sure Lena knows, but Sean was none too happy when you showed up all of a sudden and Lena wouldn't leave yer side for a week."

"She stayed that whole time?" he asked himself out loud.

Erin snorted lightly, "Heero, she was worried sick, you almost died."

"That guy seems like he would have been okay with that."

"Alright, now none of that in front of Kimi." They came to the edge of the village and Erin led them into the edge of the jungle and down a small path that went into a clearing, "She's got enough on her mind as it is, doesn't need to be concerning herself with Sean and his obsession."

Heero stopped, "Obsession?"

Erin seemed to realize that she might have said something that she shouldn't have, "Well, obsession's probably a bit strong, and again all this is my own observation. Though I will say that when Lena became Kimi the man threw a right and proper fit when she didn't take him for a member of her team." They came up on a cave and Erin ducked her head and went inside, Heero following her.

"You're on her team though?"

"Yep, I'm her Weaponry and Explosives Expert." Heero's thoughts must have been betrayed by his face because Erin threw her head back and laughed, "Don't look the part do I? I get that a lot, but personally I think it gives me an edge of sorts. You'd never be expecting such a pretty young woman to be one of the best snipers on the planet now would ya?"

Not sure what else to do, Heero nodded dumbly as they continued downward into the cave, eventually stopping in front of a large steel door. Erin placed her hand on a scan pad and after a few clicks and beeps, it swung back, allowing them entrance.

It was like stepping into another world. What he had expected to find on the other side of this door he couldn't say, but it had not been this. Before them stretched a long corridor, the sides of which were decorated as this were a simple office building, upon closer inspection however, the steel beams that lined and reinforced them was evident. Overhead lights blared down in that annoying way that they did in nearly every office in existence.

As they continued down the hall, however, Heero began to notice that this was far from an actual office building . . . In the first place there were no offices, just doors with electronic locks and the occasional connecting hallway. He also noticed elevators sporadically appeared among the door and halls, but rather than tiny and usual sized all of them were massive freight style elevators. Erin stopped in front of one and gestured for Heero to get in.

She slid the door closed behind them, and then positioned her eye in front of a small camera embedded in the control panel. After an affirmative beep and an electronic voice confirming her name and identity, she hit the '7' button and the elevator began to descend.

"That first floor's mostly just for show."

Heero was about to ask who exactly Keiji could possibly have to show that to, but Erin kept talking, "The facility's entirely underground, the next few floors are labs and workshops. The bottom one, where abouts we're headin' is where the Suki get most of our –"

"The 'Suki'?" Heero interrupted.

"Right, yeah sorry. Suki's the name for the seven person team that each of the Nanami have. In the Shitou base, we have basically the whole bottom floor to ourselves."

Heero nodded just as the elevator came to an abrupt stop and Erin pulled the door open so they could step out. "So there are seven of you that work with Kimi?"

"Well," Erin answered as she pushed the elevator door shut, "if you want ter get right down to it, the whole village works for Kimi, but the Suki are her personal team. Like I said before, we've each got a specialty and use it to help Kimi run everything 'round this mad house. Gotta say, it'd be a right mess if she had to do it all on her own."

They had started walking again as Erin spoke. Here it was clearly evident that they were several stories underground; the walls were bare concrete and condensation dripped from them in several areas, the temperature was easily ten degrees cooler than on the first floor, and the hall seemed to be a bit smaller.

"Right then, here we are." Erin stopped in front of a reinforced steel door and again put her hand on a scanner. The door almost immediately swung aside allowing them entrance into the room. It was surprisingly bright considering where it was situated with tall ceilings, and light colored walls; several leather couches and chairs were arranged around a table, on top of which was situated numerous flat screens and keyboards. Lining the walls of the room were a dozen or so massive screens, each displaying something different. Standing in front of one of them were four people, all of whom had turned to look at he and Erin as they entered.

"'Ello, you lot." Erin greeted them cheerfully, walking over to join them. Heero decided to stay by the door, not wanting to appear that he was there to intrude.

"Well hey, look who joined the land of the living again." Heero lifted his head as soon as he realized that the cheerful sounding voice was addressing him; the man now striding towards him looked familiar somehow. He was massive, towering over the others in the room, strongly built and obviously all muscle, but not in the body builder sort of way; his physique suggested someone who had long come to rely on his strength and size as his greatest asset. His white blonde hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail that gathered at the base of his skull and hung down six or so inches. Despite his intimidating build, he face was kind, a lopsided smile currently played on his lips and his light blue eyes seemed to laugh. He moved surprisingly quick for someone of his build, bringing himself to stand in front of Heero before the Japanese man even had a chance to take a step towards him.

The man held out his thick hand, "Nice to finally be able to introduce myself. Have to say that I'm not really accustomed to saving a guy's ass twice before he even knows my name."

Heero wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion, then suddenly it clicked; the man who had rescued him from his cell, the one that had killed that grizzled old man in the church. He shook the man's hand, "Guess I owe you one then."

The other man threw his head back and laughed, "Liam Blair, I'm Kimi's Second in Command, and yeah, I'll keep that in mind." Liam stepped aside, to reveal the rest of the group; they were all looking at him curiously with the exception of one tall, thin man who was having the cigarette in his mouth removed by Erin.

"I thought that I told yer not to be smokin' these down here!"

The man rolled his eyes in response and turned back towards Liam, "Can you do something about her?"

Liam put his hands up in a gesture of surrender as he walked back to the group, Heero following him, "Hey man, I can either run this place, or I can control Erin, I can't do both." He came to stand beside the redheaded woman, bending his neck to place a kiss on the top of her head. Erin in return simply swatted at his arm.

"Stop scarring Heero the both of you." Liam looked as though he was about to say something, but thought better of it, leaving Erin to continue, "Heero, this is Cong Xian, he deals with all the operations around this place." she indicated the thin man that she had taken the cigarette from. He looked in his mid-thirties with sunken cheeks, squinty eyes, and a large scar that ran the length of the left side of his face. He nodded to Heero as Erin gestured to the other two across from them, "And these are Motoko Ishii and Ryo Aramaki; Motoko handles our intelligence and strategy and Ryo is Kimi's political advisor."

"Not that that leaves me much to do mind you." Ryo quipped. He was easily into his late fifties with thinning gray hair and wrinkled skin, but despite this the man carried himself with dignity and gave off an air of hidden brilliance. Beside him, Motoko was looking Heero up and down as if he were there to take her daughter out on a date. Her black eyes matched her chin length hair, both of which sharply contrasted her white, smooth skin.

"Did we miss Kimi then?" Erin's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"You just did," Liam answered for her, "her and Proto went to go see Cathal . . . God only knows what that lunatic is up to."

Erin laughed before turning back to Heero, "Right then, shall we?"

He nodded good-bye to the group and followed Erin back into the hallway and to another door. The room behind this one was nothing like the first; metal shelves covered the floor, forming a maze of sorts, every inch of them was covered in machine parts, wires, computer chips, tools, cans of oil and gas, and anything else mechanical one could dream up. Somewhere through all of this, a familiar laughter floated on the air; Erin had already began to walk in the direction of the sound.

After a few twists and turns, the came to an open area, where leaning against a large work table with two other men, was Relena. Her hair was now hanging loosely around her, she had her hands in the pockets of her jeans, and wore a thin black tank top on top of them. At the sound of the approaching footsteps, she and the other two men lifted their heads, the latter two's face contorting in mild confusion while hers melted into a soft smile.

"Heero," she stood from the table and walked to the other side, "you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Better." he answered simply. She smiled again put a hand on his arm, guiding him back towards the table. The contact was not unwelcome, but he was not sure how he was supposed to be acting around her. In his head he wanted to grab her and force her to answer the hundreds of questions that had been torturing him for years . . . but he knew that this was neither the time nor the place for such things. Instead he allowed her to walk him over to where Erin had joined the other two men, all three watching them as they approached.

"You look like you could still use some rest, probably something decent to eat too." He couldn't help but appreciate the concerned tone in her voice.

"I'm fine, really." He glanced to his side, where Relena was looking at him in a way that suggested that she didn't believe him for one minute but said nothing.

"Cathal, Proto," the two men in question were already looking at them, but stood as Relena addressed them, "this is Heero Yuy, he's an old friend of mine." For some reason he found that description of their relationship odd, but gave no indication of that as he offered them his hand. The first one to shake it was a handsome young man who looked to be about twenty years old; he had dark eyes and black hair that fell carelessly around his head, his eyes had a kind look about them and his voice quiet and thoughtful sounding. "My name is actually Aoi Emiko, but everyone calls me 'Proto'."

Heero nodded and turned to the other man as he introduced himself, "Cathal McGowan," his thick Irish accent echoed through the room, "I oversee all the engineering projects in Shitou."

"Proto's our resident hacker." Erin filled in, "He specializes in information warfare, probably one of the best out there."

A slight blush spread across Proto's face, "From what I hear of Heero, he would most likely give me a run for my money."

"Ah, with that Japanese modesty again," Erin slapped him on the back in what she surely thought was a playful and friendly way, but almost knocked the soft-spoken man over, however she didn't seem to notice, "You need ter start takin' some pride in your accomplishments, I thought that hackers loved to leave their signatures all over their work and such." She turned to Heero as if looking to him to confirm this notion.

He just shrugged, "Being reckless like that is a good way to get yourself caught."

Erin gawked at him for a second before rolling her eyes, "I'll never understand you computer nuts, give me good sized block of C4 and a remote detonator, if that don' solve yer problems, nothin' will."

Beside him, Relena laughed a bit, "Thank you Erin, that sentence didn't make you sound like a crazed pyromaniac even a little." The redhead just shrugged, but Relena did not see as she turned back to Heero. "You hungry?"

- - - - -

He sat down carefully on the wooden bench opposite Relena, his side was still very sore and all this walking around was making it clear that he hadn't fully recovered yet. Relena had taken notice and asked if he'd like to return to her house instead, offering to bring him back some lunch, but Heero had insisted that he remain with her. It wasn't that he thought she was going to ditch him and try to run away again, but he wanted some time alone with her, where he could ask her the questions he wanted to, and hopefully get some answers.

She had kept their conversation light as they exited the underground compound and walked back through the village, pointing out different buildings, explaining the dreary weather (apparently this gray, foggy, overcast, and occasionally rainy atmosphere would continue until around mid-May), and showing him where the other members of the Suki lived. Nearly everyone they had encountered, villager or Keiji member, had greeted her in some form; the Keiji members often called out to her by name (Kimi, of course), making polite conversation or reporting to her on small matters before continuing on her way. Heero couldn't help but notice that nearly every race was represented within Keiji, though there was a distinct majority of those of an Irish or Japanese persuasion. The villagers for their part, often greeted Relena with a simple and short bow; she spoke to them in their own language, which she explained was called Bouyei, (also the name of the villager's ethnicity) and that she was not very good at it.

He had tried several times to broach the subject of her disappearance as well as how she had come into this lifestyle, but each time she skirted his advances, changing the subject almost effortlessly and leaving him increasingly frustrated. She brought them to a small shop in the middle of the village, one she said was her favorite place to eat, and chose a table outside leaving them a spectacular view of the mountains rising over the village.

"Heero?"

Her voice brought him out of his thoughts, "Yeah?"

"I said, are steamed dumplings okay with you?" Behind her stood the kindly looking old man who apparently owned the shop; he was waiting anxiously for an answer.

Heero nodded, not really caring what they ate. "That's fine."

Relena smiled and turned back to the old man, giving him their order in Bouyei. He responded in a delighted sounding voice, bowing slightly to Relena, then to Heero, before bustling off back inside the shop. Relena for her part had removed a pad of paper from the bag she was carrying and began scribbling a note on it.

Heero took a minute to marvel at the woman seated before him; these people here had no idea that their beloved leader was actually the long missing Relena Peacecraft, but even still she drew the same respect and adoration from them as she had from the world when she was the Foreign Minister. He had known since he first met Relena that there was something about her, something that attracted people to her, made them love her, and want to keep her safe. He was no exception to this, but here . . . things were different somehow.

It was not Relena's title, nor her reputation or history that these people were reacting to; it was simply her ability as their leader, they loved her for no other reason. He could not pretend that he did not sense it, the aura surrounding her was different, while her personality and demeanor seemed to have not changed significantly, she was no longer the demure, fragile-looking, refined Foreign Minister. No, now she effortlessly commanded the respect of this organization through her perceived strength of will, her determination, her resolve, and her keen intellect.

This was not to say that Relena had not possessed these attributes before, but here she was able to use them without restraint or fear of judgment. Heero had only seen Relena in Shitou for a couple of hours, but in that short time it became obvious that here she was able to become the person she had wanted to be.

"Heero are you listening?"

She caught him off in his own thoughts again, "I'm sorry, my mind was else where."

Relena smiled in an understanding way, "I'm sorry too, I know that this must be a lot to take in . . . seeing me like this and all."

Heero shook his head as if trying to clear it, "It is a lot to take in, I won't pretend otherwise." He straightened himself in his seat and looked directly into her eyes, preparing to gauge her reaction, "You seem happy though . . ."

It was a loaded question and she knew it. To answer 'yes' meant to suggest she was happier having left behind her family and friends, 'no' insinuated that she had made a mistake in leaving . . . neither answer was true. "I'm not unhappy . . ."

He watched her face as several emotions flickered across it in a few short seconds . . . she was conflicted.

". . . but I believe in what I'm doing here." she continued, "So that helps me through the times when I begin to doubt myself." She lifted her eyes to meet his, an emotion that he couldn't name glistening within them as she quietly spoke, "I didn't want to leave Heero."

For a moment he said nothing, instead searching her face for any trace of evidence that she had meant what she had just said. "You didn't have to."

Relena smiled sadly at him and turned to look back out across the mountains. "You know, hundreds of years ago, back when mankind was first venturing into outer space, the world was dominated by two super powers."

"The United States of America and the Soviet Union." Heero responded, not entirely sure why he was suddenly being given a history lesson.

Relena nodded, "Yes. They were in a nuclear arms race at the time but they were also in a space race as well, to see who could make it the furthest in the shortest period of time." She flipped her hair over her shoulder as she turned back to face him, "There could not have been two powers more different than these two states. Both had the resources they required but obtained them from very different sources.

The United States was a well funded democracy, committed to upholding their values of egalitarianism and liberty for its people; the Soviet Union on the other hand exploited its best and brightest in order to try to beat America in the Cold War the two were fighting."

Heero shook his head, trying to keep himself from getting irritated, "I assume you think that all of this is relevant some how?"

She gave him the same look she had given him so many times before, and he was secretly pleased to see that she could still find humor in his impatience, "What I'm getting to is that having the same resources but from very different sources meant that the two countries took very diverse approaches to their space race." Relena held up the pad of paper she had in her hand, tapping it with the pen she was holding, "For example, when the United States did finally manage to send astronauts into space, they ran into a slight problem with their record keeping and as a result ended up spending millions of dollars developing a pen that could write in zero-gravity."

She handed the pen to Heero and began to fish in her bag for something else, "Do you know what the Soviets did?"

Heero's lips turned up in the corners the slightest bit, "They used a pencil?"

"They used a pencil." She removed her hand from the bag which was now holding a long, freshly sharpened yellow pencil, which she held out in front of herself, her gaze drifting to the writing implement and her eyes taking on a dream-like quality.

"It's the principle of Occam's Razor, Heero. '_Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem_'. . . 'Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.'" She lifted her eyes to meet his own, "The simplest solution is usually the best one."

He felt anger boil up inside of him at the callousness she was discussing such a thing with, didn't she understand what she had done? "The simplest solution for one person may turn out to cause a great deal of problems for other, Lena."

Relena closed her eyes and sighed, apparently resigning herself to the fact that this conversation was bound to take place at some point. She sat back in her chair, but refused to meet his eyes, "I had become too much of a liability, Heero. If by the time of August, 199 I wasn't already causing more harm than doing good, I would have been shortly there after."

"Relena if you had told us –"

"The simplest solution," she cut him off sharply, "was to remove myself from the situation. My existence within ESUN was creating more problems than it was solving."

"And you think that by leaving those problems just went away?!"

Her head snapped up, her eyes blazing, "Well you weren't arrested, brought up on charges of war crimes, and executed now, were you?"

Her voice was even, but sharp, taking Heero off guard and leaving him with no way to counter her argument. What she had said was true . . . there had been no other course of action for her and Wufei to take. As he tried to come up with something to say, the old man returned with their food, setting down several steaming plates and a pot of tea on the table, he and Relena exchanged words briefly before she turned back to their meal. "So Doyle never told me, how did you guys end up finding me?"

Heero almost choked on his dumpling, "They didn't tell you?" She wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion and shrugged. "Somebody else knows that you're alive, they even know how you disappeared."

Her eyebrows lifted in surprise, "How could anyone possibly know that –"

"Someone sent your brother a tape of the security cameras from the night you disappeared; Zechs was able to figure out how you slipped out of the room." He tried not to sound bitter, but it came out in his voice anyway.

Relena leaned forward in her seat, "And you guys have no idea who sent that tape?"

"Probably the same guy who's been sent Zechs the other two letters . . . naturally they think it might be these Cambridge Five people."

To his surprise Relena shook her head, "Actually, I wouldn't think so, considering that in all likelihood they probably don't exist still, if they ever did at all."

Heero tried not to gape at her, but couldn't help it, "What do you mean that they don't exist?"

She popped a dumpling in her mouth before answering, "I meant that after I got her and the war broke out, Erin, Wufei, and I determined that the Cambridge Five was most likely just a name that Josef and his cronies were using, it wasn't actually a specific group of people . . . just something that they came up with." Relena looked over at him, seeming to notice the shock that was gripping him, "Honestly though, it didn't matter either way. Whether it was Josef or actually some little group of people stalking me, the outcome still would have been the same."

"You seem so sure of that."

"You disagree?"

Heero shrugged, "It's impossible to say now, if it had been only a small group then maybe we could have done something about them."

Relena nodded sadly, "Even then, Josef still would have had the Echidna virus to use, he still would have thrown the world into chaos and war . . ." her voice faltered, "he still would have systematically destroyed everything that we sacrificed and worked to build . . ."

He watched her as she regained her composure, the reality of what they had lost suddenly swooping down upon him. "Relena . . ."

She lifted her head and looked out to mountains again, "I couldn't just sit by and watch again this time, Heero. I left so that I could keep all of you safe, but when I got here I learned that I could be of use to these people, and I've tried to be. I know that we're fighting an uphill battle and I know what the costs and sacrifices will be . . . but I couldn't just sit by and watch another power-crazed lunatic destroy everything and everyone that I love and I'm going to do what I have to in order to stop that from happening."

Relena turned back to face, the slightest bit of liquid gathering in her eyes, "I won't pretend to know what the world is supposed to be, Heero . . . but I know that it's not supposed to be this . . . it can't be this."

- - - - -

He stared at the ceiling above him, it was dark and he couldn't actually make it out, but he knew if was there. Off on the other side of the room, the quiet and steady noises of Relena breathing in and out as she slept were beginning to drive him mad.

It had been three and a half years, three and a half years since they had last seen each other and yet . . . she acted as though she had never been gone. He had tried unsuccessfully all day to answer his questions, to explain to him why, but all she told him were things that he already knew.

It struck him that it was that fact that might be the issue; he knew what had happened, he didn't need Relena to explain it to him again . . . so what did he want from her? Something not tangible, something that wasn't a piece of information; an explanation that only she could give him . . . but of what? Why was it that she was perfectly at peace with seeing him again, while he felt that in some strange way he hardly knew her anymore. While this was not in anyway true, the thought still haunted him, as though there was something missing, something that was supposed to happen that she was preventing. It was as though there was a question in his heart which he could not express in words and therefore could never be answered.

The ghostly question continued to haunt him as he slowly drifted off into sleep.

-

-

-

Preview of Chapter 16:

"You just left Relena!" His voice was like nothing she had ever heard from him; it was bewildered, desperate, and incensed. "You just left and you didn't tell any of us and you let us think that you were dead!"

Inexplicably, the slightly stunned feeling that had gripped her with his outburst was suddenly replaced with one of outrage and indignation, "And how does that feel Heero?! How does it feel to be left behind and ignorant by someone you care about!?"

"Don't you dare!" he rounded on her mercilessly, "Don't you dare compare this with my leaving after the war! Things were very different then and you know that, so don't you dare try and pull that shit with me!"

Subconsciously, he had hoped to shock her into defeat, for her to admit that it was she who had been wrong, but his comments seemed only to enrage her.

"Things were different?!" She drew herself up to full height, "Why? Because you say that they were? Is it left to you to define our relationship or was it just whatever was convenient to you?!"

(see you guys soon)


	16. Coming to Terms

"_The good news here is that the next one is now basically done, and I'll have it up pretty quickly . . ."_

- Tynan, almost two months ago.

Right, so that totally happened. – sigh – So I am in fact still alive and still writing. I am so sorry for taking so long with this guys; I've officially sold my sole to my university and they are taking full advantage of it. Also, you can blame Purdy for some of it, (still love her anyway though ;). ) as she has been diverting my attention with other things . . .

Anyway, without further ado, here's Chapter 16. At the risk of jinxing myself again, hopefully the next one will be up soon. The next MAD is almost done as well, for those of you reading that one. Thank you again so much for the reviews, we're finally getting to the 'romance' section of the story's genre, so I hope you enjoy!

Occam's Razor

Chapter Sixteen – Coming to Terms

Tynan

- - - - -

Une lifted her head towards the door of her office where a now all too familiar sound was breaking her concentration.

"Agent Maxwell, I'm sorry, but we've been through this over a hundred times, I can't just let you in there!"

"Nicole I really don't have time for –"

"It's Officer Hubbard, Agent Maxwell! And I don't care what you do and do not have time for, you can't just show up at the Commander's office like this and demand to see her whenever you feel like it."

Une smiled to herself, Nicole was certainly learning to hold her own. Despite this, however, Duo seemed to have other methods in mind.

"Alright, forget it, Hilde I'm gonna tackle her, you run in there."

"Duo, I'm not going to just barge into Commander Une's off – Duo, let her go!"

"Stop yelling at me and get in there!"

"Agent Maxwell, you have two seconds to get off of me. One –"

"Duo, stop it, this is ridiculous!"

"– two."

Une subconsciously cringed as a sickening cracking noise resonated from outside, followed almost immediately by Duo's screaming.

"Oww, damn it, Nicole!"

"She did warn you Duo."

"What the helb Nicolbe! I think you broke my nobse! And Hilde, for the lobe of God, get in the office!"

There were muffled sounds of arguing and slight whimpering; sighing to herself Une stood and mentally put on her referee shirt. The scene she came upon outside her office was borderline comical. Duo was sprawled out on floor, blood flowing freely from his nose, and staining his shirt while Hilde was bent over him, trying to stop the gushing with an already soaked tissue; Duo for his part was still clutching Nicole's ankle, despite the fact that she was swatting at him with one of the many file folders that had apparently been knocked onto the floor. Composing herself, Une put on the sternest face she could conjure. "Agent Maxwell, Officer Schbeiker, Officer Hubbard, what the hell is going on here?!"

"Commander Ube," Duo snatched the tissue from Hilde and held it to his face, jumping to his feet in the process, "Hilde's gotba show you sombething!"

Une sighed again, "Officer Schbeiker in my office, you've got five minutes. Agent Maxwell, if you're not needed go see Sally and get her to clean that up. Officer Hubbard, clean up this mess."

All three people in question stood and set about their specific tasks. Hilde picked up a small bag from the floor beside her and slipped around Une, into her office while Duo headed in the direction of the elevator. Nicole began gathering the scattered files from the floor looking somewhat dejected, Une couldn't help but smile as she dipped back into her office, "Oh and Nicole, you're exempt from the physical portion of your assessment next month; I'll have Agent Maxwell submit a report on your behalf detailing that your hand to hand skills are more than satisfactory."

The young woman smiled back at her superior as she closed the door, Une returned the gesture. Nicole had been her secretary for nearly five years, she was a First Class Officer but should have been wearing an agent's jacket a long time ago. Une shook her head, the girl was so stubborn. As she turned back to her desk, however all thoughts of Nicole's desire to sabotage her career were abruptly pushed out of her head as her eyes came to rest of Hilde Schbeiker's serious and concerned looking face. "What is it Hilde?"

"Ma'am, I'm very sorry for interrupting like this, but it couldn't wait." Hilde extended her hand out to Une, it was clutching a large manila folder and small data stick, "Commander, I think I've figured out what Josef is building."

- - - - -

"Is that a tattoo?"

Relena turned around to be met with Heero gawking at her foot. Somehow she felt accomplished in shocking him, but still couldn't help the blush that crept onto her face. She held out her foot so that he could get a better look, "Yes."

Heero looked up at her from his seat at the table in her kitchen/living room area; the expression on his face was truly priceless. "When did you get a tattoo?"

Relena laughed a bit, suddenly realizing that Heero was actually quite disturbed by this revelation for some reason and wanting to make light of the situation, "Well, about a year ago . . . I had to."

"You had to?"

This time she did her best not to laugh, "Heero, you can't read it?"

He looked back down at the bare foot she was still holding out to him; the black ink that permanently stained it stood in sharp contrast to her smooth, white skin. It was a thin, three pointed Celtic knot with a singular Japanese ideograph at the center. Heero lifted his head to meet her eyes, "I'm from the colonies Relena, I'm Japanese more by association than by heritage."

She wrinkled her eyebrows at him, "You speak Japanese though . . . and like five other languages."

"Six." he corrected her with a smirk, "But I learned them on my own. All of the colonies are full of intermingled nationalities, I wasn't raised Japanese, I don't know every single obscure Kanji."

Relena returned the smirk, while secretly pondering the fact that Heero had willingly offered a piece of information about his childhood, "Well, it says 'Kimi'."

Heero favored her with a small, reflective smile, "How appropriate." he leaned back in his chair, "A rather obscure name, but fitting: 'she who history will remember'."

Her complexion visibly reddened, "I didn't pick the name, I just inherited it."

He saw his opening and took it in as casual a manner as possible, "And how exactly did that happen?"

"The previous Kimi died, I replaced him." She stood from her seat, scooping up several of the dishes between them in the process and bringing them to the sink.

"That simple huh? The guy just died one day and you of all people happen to be ready and available to take his spot?"

Relena turned back to face him, an annoyed expression on her face, "Don't patronize me, Heero you know nothing's that simple." She walked back to the table, "You also know that I wasn't brought here to join Keiji, I was brought here to –"

"Hide from a bunch of people that don't actually exist?" Even as he spoke the words he wished he could take them back. Relena's eyes locked with his for just a moment, but even in that split second he saw hurt and anger in them before she turned away. Running a hand through his hair, Heero stood, about to apologize when she cut him off.

"I have to meet with Erin this morning." her voice betrayed none of the emotions that he had just seen in her eyes, "If you're feeling up to it, I asked Cathal and Proto to show you something."

He nodded, "That's fine." Ordinarily he would have pushed for more information, but he had done enough pushing for the day and the sun was barely up.

Relena gave him a small smile before retrieving their coats from the wall rack. He followed her outside, pausing for a moment to watch the sun struggle to break through the dense morning mist that covered the village below them, before catching up with her as she started down the trail.

They walked silence; all around them the air was buzzing with the sounds of the village waking up and beginning another day, but Heero barely heard it. It had been sixteen days since he had woken up in Relena's home in Shitou . . . but it was beginning to seem as though he might as well have not come here at all. In those sixteen days he had managed to acclimate himself to Relena's new life, well actually it was really only new for him, she had been living here for three and a half years. In some ways she hadn't changed a bit; her smile was the same, her good nature, her quick temper, and her charisma were still as he remembered them. But so much of her was different now. He got the feeling that she was acting for him in a way, trying to be like he remembered her to be; this was probably subconscious on her part and she couldn't hide everything.

Only someone who had known her as he had would notice the differences; it was not the words she spoke, but the tone in which they were spoken. It was not what she said but the words she chose to say it with. It wasn't her actions, but the things that she didn't do that revealed to him that while the Relena he had know was still here, she had changed. However, it was also slowly becoming apparent to him that these changes were not of her own design, but rather they were necessary to her survival . . . but why he couldn't say.

For over two weeks now he had tried countless times to ask Relena about the past three years of her life, and each time she had been evasive to say the least. It wasn't a matter of security; hell he'd been shown parts of Shitou that people living here there whole life hadn't seen. No, quite simply it was that Relena didn't want him to know.

After a week of frustrating and futile attempts to get information out of her, he finally realized what was holding her back. Relena had never kept secrets from him before, she had always shared her fears, concerns, hopes, and goals with him. Even the painful memories that she probably would have preferred not to think about let alone discuss, she had told him . . . but he had never done the same for her, and he had a feeling that she understood why after all these years.

It was not that he had not wanted to tell her . . . well actually, that was exactly it. There were things in his life, things that he had done that he was not proud of, things that he tried not to think about and often came to him only in his nightmares. Relena had always known of his odious past, but not the details, and often he thought that it was her lack of specific knowledge that kept her by him, it was only her ignorance that prevented her from forsaking him in disgust. As the years had passed he gradually decided that no matter what he told, Relena would not have renounced him for it . . . but he could not bring himself to believe that she would not think less of him, and for unexplained reasons the prospect of that turned his stomach.

He deserved her contempt, he had told himself many times. He had felt that he owed her an answer to a question she had never asked, but was too cowardly to give it her. Relena thought too highly of him, she accepted him without question or explanation for the person he had become rather than who had been . . . and he could not bring himself to have that taken away.

Heero stole a glance to his left, carefully looking her over for a moment. There was no doubt in his mind that her unwillingness to divulge information to him stemmed not from a need for secrecy on Keiji's behalf, but rather on her own. He sympathized with her, but at the same time he could not fathom what she possibly could have done that she wanted to hide it from him of all people. Regardless, she had been patient with him all that time, and he owed her the same. Of course, this situation was slightly different; he hadn't faked his own disappearance and let his friends and loved ones think that he was dead. And as much as he knew Relena deserved his time and understanding as she had given him, he was not an understanding person and with every passing day was growing more and more frustrated with her silence.

He almost had to laugh to himself; talk about irony. He and Relena were in nearly the exact place that the other had stood four years ago. Maybe now she understood why he never talked about his life before the war, and for his part he knew what it felt like to be left confused and wondering about what had happened to his good friend. With this switch came an interesting and comforting revelation on his side as well, for now he finally understood what Relena had been quietly telling him all those years and he now felt that same way.

No matter what she had done, that would never stop him from caring about her.

"This is where I get off."

Heero snapped out of his daze to find himself standing at the clearing where the entrance to the underground bunker was. Erin stood next to Relena having apparently materialized out of thin air, her usual casual smile on her face. "You remember how to get down then, yeah luv?"

Heero nodded in response, "How long are you going to be?"

"No more than an hour," Relena smiled as she spoke, unable to shake the feeling that Heero had some sort of genetic condition that required him to keep track of her comings and goings regardless of the situation, "I'll meet you down in the bunker when I'm finished with Erin."

Said Irish woman put her lanky arm around Relena's shoulders and led her out of the clearing, pausing to yell back to him, "Don' you be worryin' Heero, I'll bring 'er back with the same number of holes she's got in her now."

Heero rolled his eyes as he started into the tunnels reflecting once again on the fact that he didn't think he would ever come to understand the Irish's twisted sense of humor. He quickly found himself standing outside of the door that led to Cathal's workshop, pondering whether he should knock or just go right in. Before he even had the chance to make up his mind, however the door was flung open and Heero was brought face to face with the man he had been looking for.

"Ah Heero." the tall, thin man stepped aside to allow him entrance. In the two weeks Heero had been in Shitou he had heard Liam refer to Cathal as some form of the word 'lunatic' at least a dozen times . . . from what he had seen so far, Heero couldn't say that he disagreed with him.

Cathal McGowan rarely left his workshop; Erin had explained that the twenty-two year old had graduated from MIT at only 18 years old with double degrees in engineering and physics, and Keiji had been quick to snatch him. She and Relena called him eccentric, Liam and Cong called him insane. His appearance and speech didn't help; choppy light blonde hair hung (at various lengths) down around his neck, his wide eyes were probably best described as green, but an almost yellowish tinge to them. He was pale like Heero had never seen, probably from spending most of his time locked in his underground lair, but this man didn't seem to think that his life should be any other way.

"So then," Cathal stepped aside and gestured to a table covered in pictures, documents, and machine parts, "Kimi wanted me to explain SARIELS to you, said you might be able to give me and Proto a hand."

Heero nodded, "What is SARIELS then?"

"SARIELS," Cathal continued, in his low droning voice that made him sound as though he was giving every word he spoke ample consideration before uttering it. "is an acronym. It stands for 'Satellite-Based, Atmospheric Ranged Interface to Earth Laser System."

He picked up one of the many discs cluttering his work area and inserted it into the laptop at the center; a few whirring and beeping noises later, several indistinguishable images were being flashed across the screen. "SARIELS is Nicolas Josef's master plan for ending the war . . . in his favor obviously."

The last conversation Heero had had with Quatre and Dorothy suddenly came rushing back to him, "This is what Josef's been building then?"

Cathal looked back up at him with a serene, but slightly surprised expression, "You're lot already know then?"

"The secret task force that I work with knows that he's building something. As of when I left they still hadn't determined what it was."

The man smiled in return, "Well now you do." He waved for Heero to join him, and began skimming through the pictures on the screen. "As the name suggests, SARIELS is a system of satellites that Josef's engineers built and then put into orbit around the Earth."

He flipped to the next image and Heero felt himself almost physically recoil as he was met with a very familiar looking blueprint. To his right, Cathal was eyeing him curiously, "You recognize what this is then?"

"A laser rifle system, the kind the mobile suits used during the war." he answered in daze.

Cathal, however seemed unphased by this, and leaned casually back in his chair, "Were you a pilot during the war then?"

Heero paused for a moment before giving the reply he always gave when asked this question, "I saw some combat, yes."

Fortunately Cathal didn't seem the type to press the issue, to question his age, where he fought, in which battles, and on whose side, and indeed he didn't, instead turning back to the computer. "Well then, I don't need to explain to you the damage that lasers of these size mounted to satellites could inflict."

Even as he spoke the words, the implications of the situation were becoming clear: Josef had built for himself a satellite system capable of inflicting massive damage to any point of the globe at any given point in time. "How many are there?"

"Four." he replied simply, "Right now there are four, one for each quarter of the globe. In theory, Josef could strike any target he chooses in half an hour of making the decision to do so."

Heero closed his eyes, trying to process this information, "I take it that SARIELS is not yet operational."

"The information we're receiving says that the satellites and most of the operational equipment and hardware are completed, the navigational system and programming for it, however is not."

"So Josef can't actually use this yet?"

Cathal shrugged, "Well, he could, but he probably wouldn't hit anything." He flipped to the next picture, a 3-D image of the Earth, surrounded by thousands of tiny points. "Tactically speaking, we'd obviously like to take out the satellites themselves, however as you can see . . . they would be in no way easy to distinguish from the others. Even if Josef were to use them, all he'd have to do is move them to another location and we wouldn't be able to tell them from any other vital satellite."

"And this is where I come in?"

"Kimi seems to be under the impression that you and Proto working together could probably take over the world if the two of you were so inclined."

It suddenly clicked in his mind, "You're going to take down the satellites using their own systems."

Cathal nodded, "Kimi has a spy that's pretty deep into Josef's ranks; he's the one that got us this information in the first place."

"How deep is he?"

"Deep enough that he can find a way to patch us into the SARIELS system so that we can hijack it and upload our virus. But the virus is the part that we actually need help with." He clicked to the next picture, a more detailed blueprint of the satellite, "I've managed to identify the navigational components and gave Proto the necessary information, however by both of our estimates, SARIELS will be operational before he's finished the virus." Cathal swiveled his chair around to face Heero while simultaneously producing a laptop computer from one of the many drawers and set it down on the table, "Kimi thinks that you may be able to help us with this."

Heero nodded and took a seat next to Cathal; the blonde man grinned in return as he watched Heero open the laptop and begin typing. "I'll go get Proto then and you two can get to work."

- - - - -

A dead silence fell over the room. Hilde gave them a few minutes to let the shock sink in, Lord knows it had taken her hours to wrap her head around this. Une had called all available Yalta members to an emergency meeting as soon as she had explained the situation; now Quatre, Dorothy, Anthony, Wufei, Sally, and Cordell were all gaping at her in various states of shock. On either side of her Duo and Une sat quiet and firm, soundlessly reaffirming what she had just explained.

Quatre was the first to regain his voice, "And he could use these . . . anywhere on the planet?"

Hilde nodded, "In theory, yes. Unfortunately, with the information I have I can only tell what Josef plans to use these satellites for, I can't tell if it will actually work or when it will."

"And he's using the same technology same laser technology weaponry as the mobile suits did?" Wufei's voice was grim, as though he was taking this as personally offensive.

"It was that portion of the information Dorothy and Quatre passed to me that tipped me to what the machines might be intended for, specifically the model of weaponry."

Dorothy threw herself back in her seat in frustration, "How the hell could these lunatics possibly get their hands on schematics from the Gundams?!"

Hilde shook her head at a complete loss, but Une answered for her, "It's obvious that whoever was blackmailing Relena was thoroughly investigating the Gundams and their pilots . . . it's not that great a stretch to imagine that they somehow managed to find some blue prints."

"They wouldn't even need the entire thing," Duo chimed in, "if they had just found bits and pieces, they could have come up with something based just on that."

"How they came up with it isn't important right now." Anthony's voice was surprisingly calm considering the situation, "What is important is the fact that Josef's got a weapon that's going to effectively turn the entire planet into his own private shooting gallery and we're all but powerless to stop it." He turned his head to face Une, "If we don't figure out a way to destroy this thing he's going to end the war with it . . . and not the way we want."

"Simply destroying it isn't going to be enough." Everyone at the table turned to face Cordell, "Even if we managed to get rid of these what's to stop him from building more? Anthony is correct, the introduction of this weapon means that the war must be drawn to a close. We can't wait any longer, Preventers, L-10, and ESUN must now decide it bring the war to Nicolas Josef."

Une closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, "We just don't have the numbers."

"Well get them."

"Don't you think, Edward," Une was suddenly on her feet, "that if I had had the men and equipment to invade Africa and physically dispose of Josef I would have done it already?!"

"It's past that point Une!" Nearly everyone present started, never before had Cordell raised his voice, especially to Une, "Whether or not you have the numbers, Josef has the technology and he's going to use it to wipe ESUN off the map! Until we can confirm otherwise we are living on borrowed time, it is now that we have to start thinking dramatically, we have to be willing to accept solutions to bringing this war to an end that twenty minutes ago were not acceptable!"

"And what exactly is it that you propose, Edward!?"

"I have no idea!" The professor threw his hands up in frustration as he slumped back into his chair, "I'm here to consult you on government affairs and the political situation and I'm telling you right now that it's bad! I am not a military strategist, I can not win this war for all of you!"

Cordell leaned over the table and pushed his copy of the plans Hilde had distributed to them into the middle of the table, "But that" he pointed at the schematics, "_that_is going to win the war for Josef. And right now we have nothing to go up against him with." He scanned the room, meeting each set of eyes for a moment before speaking again, "All of you need to figure out a way to defeat Josef quickly and decisively before he can use this monstrosity of his, and we may not like the way that it has to be done." Cordell suddenly put his head in his hands, shaking them a bit as he sat, "And God help us all if this somehow gets out to the public."

- - - - -

Five quick pops broke the air in perfect succession. Relena lifted her head from the metal parts sprayed out across the table before her to where Erin was taking out the magazine of her .92 Beretta, giving it a somewhat annoyed look. Relena couldn't help but smile knowingly, "What's wrong Erin? Only hit the center four times?"

The sharpshooter scoffed at her, as she walked back to the table where Relena was cleaning her own firearm, "I'll have you know that despite the trigger catchin' a bit, I was spot on."

Relena chuckled to herself and went back the gun barrel she was holding; she could feel Erin's eyes boring into the top of her head, but chose to ignore her friend's stares.

Erin, however, was not so inclined, "Heero didn' want to get in some target practice with us?" Relena shrugged in reply, bringing a coy smile to Erin's lips, "Or maybe, he was never asked in the first place."

Relena lifted her eyes to meet Erin's, "I don't think that Heero's quite ready to see me fire a gun yet."

"Why? It's not like you're very good at it." Erin laughed as she ducked to avoid the grease smudged rag that was lobbed at her head.

"What I mean is," Relena continued, "that Heero seems to be having enough trouble getting used to me running around, barking orders, and conducting a war. I don't think he needs to see my weekly instructional sessions with you."

Erin's eyes softened at the tone in Relena's voice, "Lena luv, what exactly is it that you be tryin' to protect him from?"

Relena shook her head and began to reassemble the parts of her gun, "I-it's not him that I'm trying to protect Erin . . . it's me."

The Irish woman wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion but a look of comprehension quickly spread across her face, "You're afraid of what he'll think of you."

"I'm already afraid of what he thinks of me." Relena lowered her eyes and clicked the magazine into place, "Heero always saw me as this pure, untainted being of peace, and virtue, and justice and whatnot," she waved her hand dismissively, "and now after three and a half years later, I don't want him to think that I'm not the same person any more."

A hand on her shoulder caused her to look up, Erin was leaning across the table, a sympathetic look in her eyes, "Lena, you're not the same person any more."

She felt her eyes begin to sting with tears and before she knew it she was doubled over on the bench sobbing as Erin came to sit next to her slinging an arm around her shoulders, "I was so terrified to see him, Erin. I didn't want him to see what I've become."

"You mean a brave, selfless leader whom thousands would follow to the edge of the Earth if you just asked them to?"

Relena gave a snort of laughter in spite of herself, but it quickly gave way into another round of sniveling, "I-I know . . . but, I –"

"Lena, luv, you grew up." Erin told her softly as she smoothed her hair out of her face, "You were only nineteen when you came here and you still had a great deal to find out about the world and so."

"You're only two years older than me, Erin."

"Yah, true, however I grew up me whole life with Keiji and knowin' what I was meant to do. If I recall correctly you were Relena Peacecraft, then Relena Darlian, then Relena Peacecraft again, then Romefeller's Queen of the Universe or somethin', then the Vice-Foreign Minister, then the Foreign Minister . . . Lena, yer whole life you've been trying to figure out who you were, but you were doing it through yer names and associations and yer titles, the people around you, and the political climate. It's not to say that you didn't believe in what you did and what you stood for, but you did these things out of necessity."

Erin drew back from her to place her hands on Relena's still shaking shoulders and tilted her head up to meet her eyes, "I'll never forget when I first met you, when Wufei brought you to O'Malley's. I had known who you were and all, but all I could think whiles we were sittin' there talking was how helpless you were in all this, your life was falling apart around you and you couldn't do a damn thing about it. When I brought you to Shitou and Keiji I brought a scared girl who hadn't experienced enough of the world outside the political arena to decide on her own what she truly believed."

Relena shuddered involuntarily, "Even knowing what I believe Erin, I've done things that go against it."

"We all have." She moved to sit down next to her, "And Heero will understand that, and he won't think less of you or won't stop caring for you because you did things that you didn't want to do, but they had to be done. I'm not saying that you should go running to him and completely spill your guts about everythin' that's happened . . . but maybe start answering some of his questions and all, just a little at a time."

Beside her, the Keiji leader sniffed before straightening herself up and nodding resolutely. Erin smiled and stood up, walking back to the targets, "Good then! 'Sides, Lena today of all days is no times to be bothered and sad." She reloaded her magazine and slid the clip back in, a devious smile on her face. "Which reminds me, I'll be leaving right from here to pick up the necessary supplies."

Relena shook her head as she came to join her friend, "Actually, Erin I think that I'll go . . . I'll take Heero with me . . . give us a chance to talk for a while."

Erin's face broke out into a grin, "Right then, I'll make sure everythin's set up for when you get back." She threw her head back and laughed, clapping Relena's shoulder in the process. "Don' you be worryin' 'bout a thing, Liam and I will get it all sorted out."

Relena smiled and clicked her magazine into place, leveling the gun in front of her while Erin watched, "Lena, keep your arms tight."

"What happened to 'stay loose'?"

"Yeah well not that loose," Erin reached over to adjust her arms, "'course, this wouldn't be so much of a problem if you didn't insist on that damn antique 'stead of a real weapon." She cast Relena's 08Luger a look of disgust as if it had just made a nasty comment.

"It does what I need it to and nothing more Erin, that's what's important."

"Where the bloody hell did you even get that thing?"

"Wufei gave it to me. He found it in an old house Preventers raided when they were tracking a group of drug smugglers."

"Huh . . . giving a girl a gun's probably about the closest that guy's ever going to come to a proposal –"

"Erin!"

"Does his fiancé know that you two are involved?"

"I'm telling him you said all of this."

- - - - -

Aoi Emiko tore his eyes from the computer screen in front of him to steal a glance to his left. Generally he tried not to be too proud of his generally (far) above average computer skills. For as long as he could remember he had felt most at home in front of a computer; at only 10 years old he had been deemed a prodigy with offers coming in from all sides . . . but he had declined them all. Nine years later he found himself Shitou's resident hacker, known simply as 'Proto' to most of his friends and colleagues; he had seen a lot of things, some of them things he himself barely believed could be accomplished with mere human technology . . . but what he was witnessing now . . .

He had entered Cathal's workshop over half an hour ago to the sound of a clicking keyboard, and the clicking hadn't stopped. Try as he might to focus on his own work, Proto found himself fascinated by the flawless movements and incredible analysis of this man . . . Heero Yuy . . . his work.

_He_ was a true prodigy.

"This part of the code, it doesn't match up with what's here."

Proto snapped out of his daze at Heero's question, "No, that's a different program I've been working on. It's the back up trigger for the actual control program."

"Hn."

Heero leaned back over the computer, resuming his flawless stream of typing. How much time passed, Proto couldn't say, but suddenly the door opened behind them and the typing abruptly stopped. Spinning around faster than he meant to just in time to see Lena and Erin push the door open and make their way to where he, Cathal, and Heero were sitting.

Erin grinned at him in that way that made him uneasy, it just wasn't natural to be as happy as this woman was. "How'd it go then boys?"

Proto stood from his seat; for reasons tied to his traditionalist family upbringing he always felt disrespectful engaging in initial conversation with Lena, "Yuy-san has been a great help to me."

"'Heero' is fine, 'Proto." Heero grunted to the soft-spoken man.

Proto laughed uneasily in return but Erin spoke before he was able, "Good luck with that Heero, it took Lena here six months to get him to stop calling her 'Kimi-sama'."

Proto had begun turning slightly pink, "I am simply compelled to show proper respect where it is due."

Cathal snorted behind them, "Yeah, you notice that he never bothered with 'Blair-san' and 'Shannon-san' for Liam and you."

Erin opened her mouth to protest the comment, but Lena swiftly cut her off, no doubt sensing the impended tempest, "Heero, I have an errand to run this afternoon, I thought that you'd accompany me."

Proto watched as Heero nodded solemnly, punched a few commands into the computer, then stood and slung his jacket onto his shoulders and without a word followed Relena out of the room, presumably towards the elevator and out of the underground complex.

No sooner had the shut than Erin let out a long exasperated sigh, "Cor, I swear those two . . ."

"They haven't seen each other in almost four years, Erin." Proto tried to sound somewhat forceful, but as usual his efforts were futile.

"Exactly!" she rounded on him with a confused and slightly annoyed expression on her face, "You'd think that they'd at least act like they were happy to see each other." She flung herself into the chair Heero had just vacated, "I know that it's more complicated than all that and such, but I for the love of God, he's been here over two weeks, this is getting out of hand!"

"I think it's best not to get involved in these personal affairs, Erin." Cathal lifted his head from the hunk of metal and gears he was bent over, "People are complicated and unpredictable, the combination of those attributes makes them very difficult to deal with."

"Oh right, like you would know, locked in here with your machines and such all day! Are you even coming tonight?!"

Cathal shrugged, "Machines are far easier to deal with than people." He rummaged through one of the many drawers in his workbench, quickly finding the screwdriver he was apparently seeking, "As for tonight I'll have to see how my day goes . . ."

Proto couldn't help but laugh as Erin rolled her eyes in frustration and slumped back into her seat, "It's not even noon and I need a drink."

- - - - -

It was the kind of dark that made one question whether or not they had gone completely blind. Had it not been for the stars over head Trowa may had begun to think just that for even as brightly as they shown over the African cost line, they offered little light to the earth below them.

"Agent Barton," Trowa spun around at the sound of Officer York's voice, "Sir, we're about to deploy."

"Understood, get Lancaster and Wickard, I'll meet you on the flight deck." There was an affirmative answer and then the sound of feet running down the metal stairs behind him.

Trowa looked out over the railing and across the ocean one last time; truth be told had it not been for the sound of the waves hitting the side of their ship he probably would not have been able to tell that they were even on the water. The ship's engines had been killed over two hours ago when they were in position to catch the right current that would allow them to drift close enough to the West African coast. They were running in black out, no lights, no sound, no navigational equipment, nothing that could alert any enemy forces to the fact that an L-10 military vessel was floating only a mile and a half off their coast line.

In ten minutes, he, York, Lancaster, and Wickard would board a helicopter to silently fly themselves into as far inland as they could get. From there they would begin their journey south, trying to pick up some of Elizabeth's trail along the way. He knew that it was a long shot . . . but as long as there was a chance that she was still alive . . .

Trowa took one last glance out over the ocean; he had been told that there was no dark like there was in Africa. He was beginning to understand what they meant and could not help but wonder whether it would save them or betray them.

- - - - -

"Where exactly are we going?"

Relena smiled and lifted her bag onto her shoulder, "To pick up some supplies." She pointed over the village and into the mountains, "You're sure that you're feeling up to the walk? We've got a good six miles or so."

Heero shouldered his own bag and stood to join Relena, "I'll be fine." In all honesty he was feeling much better, close if not already back to one hundred percent.

She smiled again and started down the path that led back to the village, Heero keeping step beside her. They crossed the town streets in silence, Relena nodding and waving to the occasional passerby as they went and quickly found themselves starting down a small, and obviously less frequented trail.

The silence was not uncomfortable by any stretch of the imagination, but Heero still could not help but feel that he should take this opportunity to try and ask Relena about a few things. However, after this morning, he wasn't sure that prying was a good idea. Of course, she wouldn't have asked him to go with her if she had intended to make this entire journey in complete silence. Still . . .

Suddenly panicking, he opted for the safest approach, "We're going into the mountains?"

"Yes," pointed him to the left of the fork they came upon, "we're going to the monastery the next one over. The priests there are sympathetic to our cause. They help us out in various ways, one of which is helping us filter supplies into the village so that we don't draw attention to ourselves by having massive stocks of food and equipment coming to what appears to be a small, remote village, of only about a thousand people."

"I see." Suddenly the path opened before them revealing a mist soaked clearing, off in the distance a thundering noise echoed through the air. It took Heero a moment to acclimate himself to his surroundings. They had stopped walking and after a few second he realized that they were standing at the edge of a massive cliff, just in front of them was a wooden bridge that looked as though it had been there since the dawn of time.

Heero turned to his left to look at Relena but instead found himself captivated by what was behind her. The source of the thundering sound was quickly explained; several hundred yards down the ravine was the largest waterfall Heero had ever laid eyes on. He quickly realized that the immense gorge before them was not simply that, there was a fierce river running through the bottom of it, thought at the moment the river itself was obscured by the thick fog and the mist from the waterfall.

"That's the Huangguoshu Falls, it's actually the largest waterfall in Asia."

Heero nodded, "And it doesn't attract a lot of tourists?"

"No," Relena shook her head as she answered, "the villagers tell me that it used to, but the site closed up during the wars. There were plans to try and reopen, but then with the onset of this war, the Oprichniki were constantly patrolling this area and many were too afraid to venture all the way out here. For our purposes though, we use it to generate electricity for the base, again –"

"You guys don't want to draw attention to yourselves with your energy consumption." Heero tore his eyes from the waterfall to look back to Relena only to realize she was already starting towards the bridge.

She threw him a glance over her shoulder, "Relax, it's a lot sturdier that it looks. All of our big shipments have to come in over this bridge."

A thought struck him, "And just how are you planning to get all these supplies back to the village with just you and me?"

She laughed, "There will be a truck waiting there for us there."

Heero took a step out onto the bridge, it was just wide enough for one vehicle to get across but the wood beneath his feet looked as though it could completely rot away at any second. "You're going to drive a truck across this thing?"

His stomach suddenly lurched as in response to his comment, Relena removed a small gun from under her jacket and aimed at the bridge far out in front of them. Before he could even open his mouth to try and tell her to stop, she pulled the trigger, and a strange ringing sound filled the air, echoing off the canyon walls. Heero looked around bewildered; the bridge hadn't seemed to have suffered any damage.

"It's actually made of iron," there was a small smile on her face, "we cased it in wood and allowed the wood to rot in the humidity and mist so that if any one were to happen to stumble across it, they wouldn't get suspicious about what a reinforced, iron bridge was doing in the middle of the mountains."

"But no one would think twice about some rotting, wooden path the villagers used to get back and forth through the mountains." Heero finished for her as he quickened his pace to catch up.

They paused about half way across for Relena to point out the spot in the waterfall where one could duck behind the falls and find the old tourist room that Keiji had converted into hydroelectric generators. It wasn't until they reached the other side that Heero realized how long the bridge actually was, he also realized something else.

"You carry a gun now?"

The question seemed to catch Relena off guard, but she covered for it nicely. "These trails are usually pretty deserted, but there's always a chance one could run into trouble out here." She tucked the firearm back into her jacket, silently cursing herself for her carelessness while reflecting on the fact that she had become so comfortable with this gun that she hadn't even thought twice about using it . . . yes, Heero deserved some answers.

She slowed her pace a bit while trying to decide the best way to approach the topic, Heero however beat her to it, "I didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry."

Relena felt her eyes get a little bigger at the sudden apology, though off in the back of her mind she suspected that Heero was also apologizing for snapping at her this morning. Regardless, she took the opportunity he had presented, "It's fine Heero . . . I know that it must be, well strange to see me like this."

"I won't pretend that it's not out of the ordinary, but I'm sure that it's necessary in your line of work."

"I wish that it weren't." Relena stared in a daze at the ground stretched out in front of her as it began to incline as they reached the trail at the base of the mountain and started upwards, "So many things have happened that have put me in situations that I never thought I would be in . . . ever. I have to admit that I was somewhat unprepared for the lifestyle when I came here."

"And that's different now?" Heero posed the question with polite interest, though his intent ran much deeper.

"Well, it wasn't at first. When Erin and Ling got me to Shitou, it was just supposed to be temporary, so that I could hide until we figured out what was going on . . . but then the war broke out and Keiji began mobilizing again."

"Is that when you started working with them?"

"Yes," for unknown reasons, she subconsciously lowered her voice, "Erin and the previous Kimi, who was a man named Long Jiang, came to me one day wanting information about ESUN."

"Jiang knew who you were?"

Relena nodded, "Well, yes Erin and Ling had to get his permission before they could hide me in Shitou, his second in Command, a man Conner O'Malley –"

"O'Malley?" Heero's head snapped up, "He wouldn't be related to Doyle back in Brussels would he?"

She nodded sadly, "He was his son." Heero watched as her left hand came up to lightly trace the scar that ran across her neck, "Conner was killed less than a year after I got here. I hadn't known him very long, but he was a good man. He and Jiang both knew who I was and they kept my secret. But they did need my help."

Relena stopped talking as they came to a particularly rocky and steep part of the trail. Heero found himself a few steps ahead of Relena, checking the ground and helping her of the rocks, all the while reflecting on the fact that she knew this trail far better than he could have . . . but she still allowed him to help her. As the ground evened out again she continued her story.

"At first it was just an occasional question, the needed clarification, or to know something about a Parliament member. But then one night, Jiang's Political Advisor left for another one of the Keiji villages and never made it there. We still don't know what happened to him, but two days later, Jiang asked me to fill the position and become one of the Suki."

Heero nodded in reply, "And you did, just like that?"

Relena shrugged, "They needed me and I wanted to help. It's not as though I had any sort of training or expertise as a soldier, there were plenty of those. What I did have though, that nearly no one else did experience with ESUN."

"I can see where they would have needed that." Heero decided to press his luck, "So what did you for them?"

"At first I spent a lot of time at the base with Jiang, but then he needed me to actually go somewhere with him, to Eastern Europe to meet with a group opposing the Oprichniki there." It could have been his imagination, but Heero though he heard Relena's voice falter, indeed it was much softer when she spoke and once again she was touching the scar on her neck, "Conner died on that mission and Liam became Jiang's Second in Command. After that we came clean to the rest of the Suki about who I was and Liam helped to train me. Erin filled his position as the Weapons Specialist."

"How is then if you and Erin were the most recent members of the Suki, you're the one that became Kimi?"

Relena let out a small laugh, "I often find myself wondering that exact same thing," she shook her head, "that crazy old man did it. Jiang died a year and a half ago."

"On another mission?"

"No." she stated simply, catching him off guard, "Jiang died of a stroke, but he didn't die right away and before he passed on he convened the seven of us, and it was decided from there that I should lead them."

Heero found himself somewhat surprised the apparent simplicity of the decision, "And all of them just accepted this?"

He nearly collided with Relena as she stopped dead in her tracks; at first he thought that she might be insulted over the insinuation, but instead she gestured to their left and set of ancient stone steps that had been carved into the mountain. Heero turned and started up the stairs, Relena right behind him as she continued her story.

"They weren't necessarily opposed to the idea . . . the thing was that they had someone else in mind, she however thought that I was more suited to the job."

Heero racked his brain trying to come up with which of the other Suki might have been considered, "Was it Motoko?"

"No, it was Ling."

He stopped and turned around to give Relena a questioning look, "Ling? She wasn't even one of the Suki though, why would they want her to become Kimi?"

"Because," Relena gestured for him to keep going and he complied, "Ling was Jiang's daughter."

"His daughter?" Heero's mind suddenly drifted back to that night on the boat . . . he had been helpless to save her.

"Ling, however didn't want to be Kimi and she thought that given that Shitou deals mostly with Europe, someone with a lot of political experience would be best." Relena let out a short laugh, "Next think I know, Liam's holding me down while Motoko and Cong are going to work on my foot with a needle and some black ink."

Heero couldn't help but laugh at the idea of Relena getting a tattoo . . . her brother was going to have a conniption when he – it suddenly struck Heero that he had not once broached the subject of bringing Relena back to Brussels. After the two weeks he had spent here though, he simply didn't see how he was going to convince her to leave, even for just a short time, and given that she had her own personal army at her disposal he could hardly take her against her will. He would have to –

"Heero, watch where you're going!" No sooner had he heard the words that he felt himself falling forward but managed to grab something to his right to steady himself. When he looked up, he came face to face with a pair of kindly, wrinkled, obsidian eyes, that smiled upon making contact.

"Heero," Relena came running up beside him, "are you alright?" She came and stood next to the man whose arm he was still holding on to, "Heero, this is Kavi, he's the head abbot of the monastery."

Heero promptly righted himself and awkwardly returned the bow the monk was giving him, the old man extended his arms to rest gently on Heero's shoulders, "It is always a pleasure to meet a friend of Kimi's." He turned to Relena, "If you would please follow me, we have your truck waiting for you along with your two comrades who I am happy to say have recovered very nicely and are anxious to be going back to the village."

Relena thanked him as the old man led them out the thicket of trees and up another small set of stairs that led to the monastery's stone gate. Stepping inside was like stepping into about world. The vast courtyard was flanked on each side by pagoda style buildings, practically built into the sides the mountains. Bamboo and banzai trees were interspersed among the statues and a small manmade waterfall fed into the several fountains around the perimeter. Heero stood in the center of the courtyard, admiring the serenity of his surroundings . . . but also trying to figure out why this place seemed familiar.

"Heero?" Relena turned around when she noticed that he was no longer following her, "Is something wrong?"

He snapped out of his daze at the sound of her voice, "I-it's nothing, I . . . I just feel like I've been here before."

She smiled back at him in an amused sort of way, and he was about to object to her making fun of him, but she managed to speak first, "Well, that's probably because you have been here before. The several of the monks here are highly skilled doctors and they treat our sick and wounded. This is where Liam brought you after you were rescued from the prison. Once you were stable, they let me bring you back to Shitou."

"Oi Heero!"

He felt his heart skip a beat at the sound of the familiar voice. He had barely turned around when he was being pulled into a rough hug, "Thomas!"

The man pulled back from him, a huge grin on his face, "Good to see you there, Heero."

Heero smiled in spite of himself; Thomas looked a little thinner, but supposed that he was lucky that was all that was still wrong with him. "Where's Ryan?"

"He's waitin' for us in the truck around back." He started walking towards one of the shrines, waving for Heero to come with him. Relena was a good bit ahead of them, talking to the head abbot. "The monks said that we're fit enough to leave, thought that we'd catch a ride back with you and two."

They rounded the corner of the building and started down another set of steps, "You've both recovered then?"

"Well," Thomas jumped the over the last step and onto the flat area before them, "truth be told, I was fine as of about a week ago, but I didn' want to leave Ryan like that."

"I see." He didn't dare ask what had actually happened to them in the prison as their injuries had apparently been far worse than his own. They continued down the path until they came to another sizeable, open area with a large, covered truck parked in the middle. A figure stood in the back of it, and after a second bounded towards him.

"Heero!" Ryan pulled him into a hug similar to the one his brother had given him, while noting that this had to be some sort of a personal record for him. "Glad to see, man."

"You too, Ryan." Ryan looked a bit worse than his brother; he too was very thin, and his skin seemed pale and chalky, but regardless of outward appearances his spirits were high.

"Hey guys," All three of them looked up to where Relena had climbed into the driver's seat of the truck, "we've got to get going."

Thomas and Ryan climbed on to the back of the truck, claiming that they wanted some fresh air, leaving Heero in the cab with Relena. He watched with amused fascination as she expertly navigated the vehicle through the narrow passes and steep roads of the mountain. Before he knew it they were crossing the bridge and coming up on the village . . . most of which appeared to be mulling around the streets waiting for them. Relena however, did not seem to find this odd and drove the truck right up to the edge of the group.

"And back in one piece." she smiled at him in a way that suggested she was very proud of herself.

"Does the entire village always stand outside and wait until for you to come back with supplies?"

She laughed a bit, "Only when they're waiting so that the party can start."

He arched his eyebrows, "Party?"

Relena rolled her eyes and grinned as she turned killed the engine and opened her door, "Heero, it's Saint Patrick's Day and this place is brimming with bored, thirsty Irish people." With that she dropped out of sight and onto the ground below her leaving Heero to his mild confusion before following her a moment later.

Relena was already making her way through the small mob that had quickly gathered at the back of the truck; Liam's massive figure was easily distinguishable in the crowd, a keg of what Heero could only assume was Guinness on each shoulder. "Lena, we were starting to think that you weren't going to make it back in time."

"What he means is he was takin' bets on whether or not you'd be gettin' lost tryin' to use the truck roads and all." Erin appeared by his side seemingly out of thin air.

"Liam," Relena smirked at him as she lifted a crate from the back of the truck and handed it to one of the many people waiting behind her, "just for that I'm going to personally embarrass you in your annual little shots contest."

"I'd like to see – oof." the massive man doubled over, nearly dropping the two metal drums on his shoulders as Erin's elbow connected with his stomach.

"Help me get the kegs over to the table, the band's startin' up and if there be no beer by the time they get goin' we'll be havin' a riot on our hands." With that the two and several others began dragging or carrying the aluminum casks off to an unseen location.

Heero took a moment to survey the area around him; villagers and Keiji alike were mulling about, eating, talking, and some already drinking. To his left was some sort of a stage which several people with instruments were now clamoring on top of, beside them was an area containing what looked like enough food to feed a small army . . . Heero reminded himself that that's exactly what this was.

"You hungry?" Relena suddenly appeared beside him with a devilish grin on her face.

Now that he thought about it, he was starving, but only nodded in response. She laughed and took him by the arm, leading him over to the tent where the smells of roasted meat and beer were emanating from. As they made their way through the crowd, many stopped to shake Relena's hand, then his own, making each of them promise to catch up over a pint at some point. Relena simply smiled, indicating that they'd know where to find her and continued on her way. A happy and festive atmosphere bustled all around them, brought to a stop only by the shrill sound of a microphone and a cool female voice breaking the air. All stopped and turned in the direction of the stage where tall, thin woman with long blonde hair was slinging her guitar over her shoulders.

"Cead mile failte! And welcome! We're all anxious to get on with the craic for the evening, but before we do if you would please favor us with a moment of quiet, in remembrance of those who could not be with us here tonight." Silence fell over the crowd and after a moment the woman raised small glass filled with amber colored liquid and spoke into the microphone, "Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free! I follow the plan God laid for me. I saw His face, I heard His call, I took His hand and left it all..." She downed the shot and those around them with drinks in their hands followed suit a great cry erupting from the crowd as the band took up their instruments and began to play.

Relena was once again pulling them through the crowd, but Heero kept his eyes on the stage as the young woman began to sing, the atmosphere of the festival somehow mesmerizing him.

"_His eyes they closed and his last breath spoke, he had seen all to be seen. A life once full, now an empty vase with the blossoms on his early grave."_

They had stopped in front of the tent where Relena found and empty table and indicated he should take a seat, "I'll be right back." Heero nodded to her and turned his head back toward the stage, though he could no longer see it from where he was.

"_Walk away me boy, walk away me boy, and by mornin' we'll be free. Wipe that golden tear from your mother dear, and raise what's left of the flag for me."_

He was snapped out of his daze by someone sitting in the chair next to him; expecting to see Relena, Heero visibly started when instead he was met with the pensive figure of Cathal McGowen. "Hello, Heero."

"Cathal!" came a shrill yell from behind him and before he knew it Erin had materialized between them, Liam just behind her, the former threw an arm around Cathal's shoulders and ruffled his hair, "Look who made it out of his workshop and into the real world!"

"Yes, well far be it from me to forgo an opportunity to celebrate the history and heritage of my ancestor's culture by drinking myself into a blithering stupor."

"That's the spirit!" Liam raised his own brimming mug, while handing Heero and another and gesturing he should do the same. The larger man however had already drained his glass before Heero even had a chance to bring his to his lips. He looked as though he were about to reprimand Heero for this, when he was saved by Relena's timely arrival.

"You guys don't see enough of me everyday, you've all got to stand around my table waiting for me?" She set two heaping plates of food down on the table, each contain large quantities of various types of meat, potatoes, and some leafy green vegetables.

Liam reached across to Relena's plate and picked up a chunk of the red meat, popping it into his mouth, "You know, not to dampen the mood or nothing, but why the Irish have to take a perfectly good piece of meat and boil it is beyond me."

"Oh quiet you!" Erin's elbow connected with Liam's stomach for the second time in under an hour, but despite this she took him by the arm and led him in the direction of the stage, "Let's go then, you owe me a dance."

Relena laughed as she took as seat beside Heero and started in on her dinner, but stopped abruptly at the sound of her name.

"Kimi, there you are!"

An unwelcome and familiar voice broke the air, and sure enough when Heero turned in his seat towards the sound of the voice he was met with a tall, thin, boyish looking man walking excitedly towards where they were seated: Sean Ephialtes. In keeping with the knowledge with the fact that he was an outsider, Heero tried not to glare . . . but this man's presence made that very difficult.

Relena was now standing to greet him; Heero watched her closely, she was friendly but it was obvious from her body language that that was the extent of their relationship. "Oh, Heero," she stepped aside to reveal him better, "this is –"

"Sean Ephialtes," he stood from his seat as well, standing close enough to her to convey that she was there with . . . no wait, Relena was not there with him. He immediately recognized these emotions were coming at least partly from the fact that he knew this man was harboring an obsession with Relena. But for the time being he had no right or reason to feel this protective over her, certainly not in this place . . . for the moment he pushed the thought out of his mind. "we've met before."

Sean turned in his direction and extended his hand, Heero shook it briefly before the man turned back to where Relena was sitting down again. He smiled at her in a way that made Heero uneasy, but Relena did not seem to notice, "I was hoping to get a dance out of you Kimi."

Before Heero could say or do anything to intervene she was on her feet again, and he was being told that she'd be right back. Heero watched them disappear into the crowd, all the while thinking of reasons he could come up with to beat the man senseless. It wasn't really fair to harbor such resentment for him, but something about his puppy dog eyes and the way he seemed to feign a school boy crush made Heero want to hurt him . . . a lot.

"I've never really liked that guy." Heero had almost completely forgotten about Cathal, still seated beside him and now picking at Relena's abandoned plate of food, "Never really could place my finger on it but something just seemed . . . off."

"Yeah . . ." Heero agreed with him as he let his mind once again wonder back to the music permeating the air.

"_In his place there grew an angry festered wound, filled with hatred and remorse. Where I'd pick and scratch until the blood it matched, the silent rage now that fills my lungs."_

He had no right to be jealous, in all honesty, he probably had no reason to either but, he just couldn't help the angry, bitter feeling that was welling up in his chest. He had thought she was dead all these years, but never got over what had happened . . . she had known he was alive and . . .

"_Walk away me boy, walk away me boy, and by mornin' we'll be free. Wipe that golden tear from your mother dear, and raise what's left of the flag for me."_

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to find Relena's sky blue eyes staring back into his own, "Sorry about that." she sat back down next to him, "Here, I got you another one."

Heero looked down at the glass she set next to the other beer he still hadn't finished and began to feel that he was going to need something a bit stronger to get him through the night.

"Alright then, Lena?"

Even after a week in Shitou, Heero was still amazed that someone of Liam's size and stature was able to appear out of seemingly nowhere. The massive man was now towering above them, a grin just as large as he was splitting his face, and a yet another foaming mug of beer in each hand.

Relena smiled back at him, clearly reveling in the festive atmosphere, "Of course, it's such a lovely night for –"

Her sentence was cut off as a slightly intoxicated Erin appeared from behind Liam and draped an arm across Relena, "An bhfuil tu dalta fos?"

"No, she's not Erin" Cathal answered for her, "and you'd think she'd have to be to agree to dance with Sean."

Erin's face contorted into revulsion, "That tosser?! 'Cor, the man's got some nerve."

"Erin, he's harmless, he's –"

"A bleedin' stalker! Lena, he's got –"

"Alright ladies, enough of the gossip and onto more important matters." Liam slammed a large bottle of whisky down on the table, "Now then, test of manhood on this fine evening?"

Erin giggled and took seat next to Cathal, uncorking the bottle, pouring out the first round, and lifting her glass immediately, "God invented whisky to keep the Irish from takin' over the world!"

And four hours later Heero understood exactly why. There was no way to count the number of empty glasses that littered the grass around them, but there were two empty bottles of Jameson lying on table before them. Erin was sprawled out on the table, half asleep and mumbling in Gaelic after accosting Liam, Cathal, himself, and Relena while shouting, "Tabhair 'om pog, is Erinannach me!" On either side of her say Liam and Cathal, the former struggling to stand and lift Erin over his should, the latter still seated at the table as if he had been drinking water all night.

Next to him, Relena looked as though she was having trouble keeping her eyes open, "You ready to head back?"

Heero nodded and helped her from her seat. The two bid Cathal, Liam, and Erin and good night and began trekking up the hill back to her house. Before he knew it they were at the front door, and Relena was kicking her shoes off in the doorway. She turned around towards Heero, "Well are you coming in?"

He nodded and followed her inside, where she was pouring two glasses of water in the kitchen. She crossed the room and handed him one before turning to walk back into her bedroom. He stood in the doorway, watching her get the extra set of bedding from the closet and lay it out on the floor for him. He didn't notice that he had been staring until she was looking right back at him.

"Heero?"

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes quickly, the alcohol was beginning to wear off but was replaced by that fuzzy, dazed feeling one gets after having consumed half a bottle of scotch. "Sorry, I'm just –"

"Tired?" She walked back to her glass of water and took a sip, "Well, you should lie down and get some sleep."

"Hn." he took finished his glass and set it down on the table, "You seem to enjoy your life here."

She looked up at him, the slightest hint of surprise on her face, "I do . . ."

Heero leaned against the table, subconsciously bracing himself for the question he had been wanting to ask her since he found out she was alive, and the alcohol he consumed being the only thing that was giving him the courage to do so now, "Relena, would you have ever back?"

She stopped and dragged her gaze over to where he stood, shock sprayed across her face, "Of course I would have."

"When?" the question came out more forceful than he had meant it to.

"When the war was over, Heero."

"So what," he stood up and turned to face her, "when the war was over, you would have just shown up one day?"

She looked away from him, "I-I don't know . . . I hadn't planned for –"

"For your return? If you were planning on coming back at all."

"Heero stop it!" Relena slammed her glass down on the table, "Where is all of this coming from? What makes you think that I wouldn't have come back?"

"The fact that you left in the first place."

Relena looked at him with an expression of disbelief, "Do you think I wanted to leave?! That I wanted to give up my friends, my family, my job, my life, everything that I had?!" She leveled her eyes at his own, a frightening look radiating from them, "I threw away my life to protect you! All of this –" she gestured out the window, "everything here, everything that's happened to me, everything I've done, I did to save you!"

"Well you didn't! Do you have any idea what happened after you ran away –"

"I didn't run away Heero!"

"You just left, Relena!" His voice was like nothing she had ever heard from him; it was bewildered, desperate, and incensed. "You just left and you didn't tell any of us and you let us think that you were dead!"

Inexplicably, the slightly stunned feeling that had gripped her with his outburst was suddenly replaced with one of outrage and indignation, "And how does that feel Heero?! How does it feel to be left behind and ignorant by someone you care about!?"

"Don't you dare!" he rounded on her mercilessly, "Don't you dare compare this with my leaving after the war! Things were very different then and you know that, so don't you dare try and pull that shit with me!"

Subconsciously, he had hoped to shock her into defeat, for her to admit that it was she who had been wrong, but his comments seemed only to enrage her.

"Things were different?!" She drew herself up to full height, "Why? Because you say that they were? Is it left to you to define our relationship or was it just whatever was convenient to you?!"

He tried to keep his emotions under control, "Relena –"

"Or do you think that because we had sex that changed things somehow? Because guess what Yuy, any argument you might have made there went out the window when you left me in the middle of the night!"

He felt himself cringe at her words, but pushed the emotions aside; she was trying to shift guilt from herself onto him, "And if I hadn't, you would have told me that you were leaving and not let me think that you had been kidnapped, tortured, and murdered?!" Before he even realized it he had closed the distance between them and seized her wrists in his hands, holding them between their bodies so that she was forced to face him, "If I had been there when you woke up that morning would you have considered me worthy to be trusted with your secrets? Would you still have considered me to be your friend?!"

She let out a breath in a way that sounded like she had been hit in the stomach, and indeed she felt like she had. Without warning the defiant expression she wore melted into one of realization and then sadness, "Heero . . . I – I never stopped believing that you were –"

He released her wrists and let his head fall to his chest, suddenly unable to stomach the look on her face. "No, Relena. People trust their friends, they let their friends help them when they're in danger, they allow their friends to protect them."

Relena felt her face contort into and expression of confusion and sorrow, but Heero refused to look up to see it, "Heero . . ."

"Why didn't you tell me, Relena?" His voice startled her; it was sad and hollow sounding, like it could break at any moment, "Why didn't you come to me with this? Why didn't you trust me to help you?"

She could feel her throat beginning to constrict with the infinite indescribable emotions that coursed through her body suddenly bubbling to the surface, "I – I . . . I thought that you would try to stop me . . . I was afraid that –"

"That I wouldn't understand?" he finished for her, "That I would leave again? That something would happen to me?"

"Y-yes." she answered in a whisper, "I thought that no matter what I did, if I stayed something terrible was going to happen to you." She could feel the tears beginning to sting her eyes, "It wasn't that I didn't trust you, it was . . . Y-you're my best friend Heero, I care more about you than anyone . . ."

With those words Heero lifted his head, his eyes locking with hers, pain evident within them, "Then why didn't you take me with you?"

She felt as though she had been knocked over, it was only Heero's hands coming to rest gently on her upper arms that brought her out of daze as his eyes continued to bore into her soul, "If you had asked me, I would have left with you. I would have left everything and gone without a second thought if it meant staying with you . . . After everything that had happened in our lives, together . . . why did you just leave me?"

Relena shook her head, unable to stand the intensity of his gaze. She took a step back, but he kept his hold on her, his tone unbelieving and slightly disgusted, "Did you really think so little of me that you thought that I would disappear at the first sign of trouble? That I would just leave you? Didn't you think that our friendship was stronger than that? Did you even consider for a moment what you meant to me?!"

Without warning, she wrenched her arms from his grasp; for a moment she looked as though she was going to hit him but suddenly her face crumpled and with a moan she fell to her knees and began sobbing. For what felt like hours he stood over he in stunned silence, watching her cry into her hand and mumble incoherently. Then before he even realized what he was doing he had knelt down next to her and she was crying into his chest.

"I'm so sorry, Heero." With those words he tightened his arms around her, one of his hands stroking her back while the other cradle the back of her head while she continued to cry. "I'm so sorry for everything. I- I didn't to leave . . . and I missed you so much."

He felt his chest constrict as she broke down into renewed sobs and he did his best to comfort her, but she persisted, "I didn't want to leave you Heero . . . I'm so sorry."

Heero let out a breath he didn't realize that he was holding, "I am too, Relena." Without even thinking he bent his head down to press his lips to hers. She didn't react at first but just as he was about to pull away her arms came up around his neck to draw him closer to her, parting her lips so that he could slide his tongue into her mouth.

How long they stayed like that he couldn't say, but suddenly Relena was inching her way backwards, before pulling him down on top of her. He lifted his head and realized they were on her bed, Relena already pulling his shirt over his head. As soon as she finished he dipped his head back down to her neck while his hands continued over her body . . .

- - - - -

Even without the lights he could see perfectly from his perch in the tree. It was fortunate for him that they had decided to argue in her bedroom rather than other room of her house where he would not have had such a clear view of the spectacle. When they were yelling he could hear every word that they were saying, when they were simply talking was more difficult, but he got the jist of the conversation at least.

He had known that the appearance of this man would cause trouble, and indeed his mere presence seemed to be throwing a wrench in to his plans. Part of him was discussed with himself for not planning for a situation like this while the other part was in still in disbelief that it had happened in the first place. The last thing he had ever expected was for one of them, and him of all people, to suddenly show up in her village.

He scoffed at himself, torn between the two conflicting emotions. Below him the village was wrapping up its celebration; everyone there was too occupied or drunk to notice him though, he had no reason to fear an unwanted intrusion. He continued to watch as she broke down into tears and he comforted her, he did not overt his gaze when she had thrown her arms around him and pulled him toward her bed, it was only when they began to undress each other that he shook his head and swung down from the tree branch, stalking off into the night and resolving as he went that to find a way to deal with this . . . obstacle.

-

-

-

-

In case anyone is wondering, the song sung during the party is Flogging Molly's 'Raise What's Left of the Flag'. Also, the seemingly incoherent phrases Erin is shouting periodically are Gaelic; first she asks if everyone is drunk yet, and after then demands of everyone at the table, 'Kiss me, I'm Irish." An early Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all!!!


	17. Fear of What Was Once Familar

Kristen Philby quickened her pace as she continued down the hall, leaving Ivan to catch up with her

- peeks out from behind a corner –

. . . So as it turns out I'm not dead, though this is not for lack of effort on behalf of my professors. Sadly I have had little time to write about anything that was not Russian peasants, the Vietnam War, or 19th century prison reform . . . Aside from that I had _a lot_ of trouble writing this chapter; I'm trying to get everything in line for the big events of the next one.

So here is Chapter 17, I can only offer my most sincere apologies for taking so long to get it done and hope that all of you who have stuck with the story so far will continue to do so. My summer is going to be far less hectic than my last semester was, so I will have more time to write, (yay!) and I promise it will not be a three months before Chapter 18 rolls around. (And if that happens, please feel free to send my abusive/motivating messages.)

Oh yeah, one other thing, since I know that it's been a while, here's a list of the various code names in the story, as they'll be popping up again:

**The Yalta Task Force:**

Commander Lady Une – (Codename: Washington)

Agent Heero Yuy – (Codename: Casablanca)

Agent Duo Maxwell – (Codename: Cairo)

Agent Trowa Barton – (Codename: Arcadia)

Agent Chang Wufei – (Codename: Tehran)

Agent Sally Po – (Codename: Atlantic)

Agent Lucrezia Noin – (Codename: Crimea)

Agent Elizabeth Bentley – (Codename: Bretton)

Agent Anthony Gord – (Codename: Cherchell)

Agent Theodore Hall – (Codename: Dumbarton; **DECEASED**)

Head of the Sanq Kingdom Milliardo Peacecraft – (Codename: Argonaut)

Representative Dorothy Catalonia – (Codename: Quebec)

Colonial Delegate Quatre Raberba Winner – (Codename: Moscow)

Professor Edward Cordell – (Codename: Malta)

**The Cambridge Five:**

Kristen Philby – Stanley

Guy Burgesses – Hicks

Andrea Blunt – Johnson

Donald Maclean – Homer

Duart Straight – Earnest

Thank you so much for all the reviews (we broke 250!). It's been over a year since the first chapter of Occam's Razor was put out and I never imagined that so many people would actually read it. Thank you again for all of your support and encouragement, I hope the story continues to be enjoyable.

Occam's Razor

Chapter 17 – Fear of What Was Once Familiar

Tynan

- - - - -

"Agent Gord?"

"Yes?" Anthony lifted his head at the sound of his name.

"I asked what you thought of this?"

"I stopped thinking an hour and a half ago when the instinct of self-preservation kicked in." 

Mari wrinkled her nose at her body guard and put the dress she was holding back on the wrack in front of her. "Agent Gord, I know that dress shopping with a 15 year-old isn't how you want to spend your Saturdays, but if you were a little more helpful maybe we could get out of here faster and you can get back to doing . . . whatever it is you do when my Mom doesn't have you following me around."

He tossed a lopsided smile at his young charge, "What makes you think I ever stop following you around?"

Her eyes widened for a moment before she realized that he was joking, "I'm just going to go try these on." With that she spun on her heels, and the shop attendant that had been assigned to them upon their arrival stood and followed her to the dressing room with arms full of dresses.

Anthony watched her walk to the dressing rooms; he had already checked that particular area and knew that there was only one way in an out. The store was small enough that he could keep an eye on most everything, but large enough that there was still always something to keep and eye on. For the time being that something was an uncomfortable looking man leaning against a wall near the shoes; his eyes were shifting nervously over the expanse of the story and despite the cool temperatures he looked very sweaty. In all probability he was waiting for his girl friend to finish with her shopping, but for now Anthony considered him to be the greatest threat to Mari Une's safety.

It was important to prioritize these things, but just as important to bear in mind the unpredictable nature of the universe. Chaos Theory. For someone like him, someone who spent his life trying to understand and predict the actions of others, Chaos Theory was central dogma. Individuals and the situations surrounding them are extremely susceptible to their initial conditions; the fact that these entities are deterministic is meaningless, their sensitivity manifests itself as an exponential growth of potential outcomes of their conditions. Deterministic chaos, or simply chaos, rules humanity because of the free will that is granted to it . . . it was impossible to know what action any one person was going to take, but it was possible to try and guess.

The nervous man suddenly snapped out of his semi-trance and Anthony watched as he followed a young woman out of the store, a dejected and forlorn look on his face. Anthony couldn't help but smile with a slight feeling of sympathy. Leila had done the same to him more times than he could count . . . she had never known that he was only pretending to miserable . . . she had never known a lot of things . . .

"Agent Gord?"

At the sound of his name Anthony was brought back to reality, "Yes Mari?"

The young woman beamed at him and held out a black gown in front of her, "I'm going to get this one, you were right, it's the best for the occasion."

He smiled in return and followed Mari to the register. It was only after he had returned from his undercover assignments on the Lunar Base and been reassigned to Security and Intelligence that he met her and over the past four years he had been more than happy to serve as her security from time to time, as well as proud that Commander Une trusted him with such a task. The boutique owner carefully laid the dress in a protective cover and handed it to its new owner; Mari's entire face lit up in a way that only a year ago Anthony never would have thought was possible.

As they made their way back out to the street and to Anthony's car, Mari chattered all the way, about the upcoming ball, about the books she was reading, about her life in general. He almost envied her, to have such a life. But this is what he had chosen for himself, and after all he had sacrificed, who he had sacrificed he could not simply give it up.

- - - - -

Light fell on his eyelids and the fluttered open blinking into the unwelcome intrusion. For a moment he was disoriented, but the sudden realization of a warm weigh on his chest brought him back.

Relena.

Without even thinking Heero brought his free arm up to wrap it around her back and pull her closer to his chest. She let out a sharp breath and for a second he thought he had woken her up, but she only nestled her head into the crook of his neck and her breathing returned to its previous soft pattern. Unconsciously he stroked her hair while willing himself to fall asleep so he could stay like this for just a little longer.

Next he knew the weight on his chest had shifted. He opened his eyes again and could immediately tell it was later, apparently he had managed to fall back asleep. Turning his head to the side, he was met with two clear blue eyes and he reached out to brush a strand of honey blonde hair from them. "Morning."

"Good morning." Relena shifted backwards so that they were laying side by side, but kept her hand on his chest. "Did you sleep well?"

Heero grunted and affirmative sound and draped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer so that he could kiss her forehead. Relena sighed into his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck, closing the distance between them.

Neither of them spoke, but the silence was not uncomfortable. Heero closed his eyes and again and allowed himself to be lost in the sound of her slow breathing and the feeling of her warm breath on his neck. He felt as though he should say something, but even if he had words to offer, it seemed in appropriate to do so for some reason . . . like it might end the comfort and security of the morning.

Something had happened in him last night, and he could tell something had happened to her to. Since he had come to know Relena there had never been any doubt in his mind that he would do whatever he had to in order to protect her. Even after she had disappeared these feelings only became stronger, fueled by regret and guilt. They had then faded over the years, not because they had changed, but because he believed them to be no longer necessary; he had thought her dead. But as soon as he was told otherwise the need to keep her safe had returned more powerfully than it had ever been before. It was this need that had given him the strength to seek her out, it kept him alive in the Oprichniki prison, he was sure it was what had kept him clinging to life through his illness and recovery in Shitou.

But now suddenly it was gone. This was not to say that he would not still lay his life down for her without a second thought . . . but it wasn't all that there was now. All of a sudden he just wanted to be near her, just to stay with her whenever possible. Why this had happened now after all this time he couldn't say . . . but he wasn't going to fight this. For now he just wanted to lie here with Relena.

His heart was beating so slowly compared to her own; she was sure he could hear it pounding in her chest. She sighed in spite of herself . . . this is exactly what she had been trying not to let happen since he had arrived in Shitou. It wasn't that she had been trying to push her feelings for Heero out of her mind, it was that she was trying to understand them.

Three and a half years with no contact between them. She had thought about him every day they had been apart but as the years had gone on she began to doubt more and more that they would ever see each other again let alone renew their friendship . . . she had certainly never seen this coming. Now all of the feelings she had been suppressing and convincing herself could never culminate into anything had resurfaced and we coursing through her body with a rage like never before.

It was no secret to her, (or Erin for that matter), that her feelings for Heero had never gone away, never even faded. But she had left him in order to keep him safe; she had sacrificed her feelings for his life. And now, after only two weeks since their reunion, they were waking up in bed together. Her brain was screaming that this had been a mistake, but her heart simply could not agree. It was senseless to try and deny her feelings for this man. He had traveled half way around the world to find her and she knew that as much as she wished to protect him, he wanted the same for her.

She had so much to figure out for herself, but for now she wanted to take care of what she could at this time.

"Heero?"

Her soft voice brought him out of his thoughts, "Hmm?"

She took a short breath and he felt her body tense a bit as she spoke "I want you to know . . . there was never anybody else."

He felt an unexpected sense of relief wash over him and pulled her closer against his chest. "I would tell you the same, but I'm sure that you already know that."

Relena sighed and tilted her head back to meet his eyes and she felt tears begin to sting her own, "I'm sorry, Heero. For everything, for all the pain I caused you . . . I wish that there had been some other way."

Heero closed his eyes and tucked he head back under his chin, "It doesn't matter now," he gently rubbed her back as he spoke, "Relena," Heero drew in a breath he didn't realize he needed as he prepared to broach the topic that had brought him to this village in the first place and reached his hand out to brush the same strand of hair from her eyes again, "I need to ask you . . . about –"

"You want me to come back to Brussels." she finished for him; her voice betrayed no emotion.

He nodded in response, secretly relieved that she had spared him from actually having to say it himself. "Everyone's waiting for you. I should have been back weeks ago, you're brother's probably beside himself."

"I know," her eyes began to water despite herself, "now that they know that I'm alive . . ."

"They just want to see you."

She pulled back from his embrace, "You can understand why I'm not inclined to just pick up and run back to Europe."

He took one of her hands in his own, rubbing it gently to emphasize that he was no accusing her and he sympathized with her, "Relena, would you really not come back to see your family?"

She smiled a little and shook her head, "Of course I'm going to go see them, Heero. It's just going to be difficult . . ." She looked up to meet his eyes again, "You understand that I can't stay. I – I want to see them, but I'm, I'm needed here." Her eyes were suddenly hard and emotionless, "Heero, promise me that if I go back to Europe you'll make them understand that I won't be staying."

Her request took him by surprise. Now that he thought about he had not even considered whether or not Relena would stay if she agreed to come back with him. The answer was obvious though, for the time being, Shitou and Keiji were her home and her family. He could never ask her not to come back.

Heero nodded, about to try to reassure her, but Relena abruptly stood from the bed, snatching a silk robe from the wall as she went. "I'll need a couple days to get some things in order before we leave." She tossed him another robe, and spun on her heals walking through the door and into the kitchen area, "Do you want some tea?"

He barely heard himself answer as he watched her leave. An odd sensation washed over him, he found himself wanting to stop her, to wrap his arms around her, and kiss her . . . but for some reason felt she didn't want him to.

- - - - -

Kristen Philby quickened her pace as she continued down the hall, leaving Ivan to catch up with her. Annoyed did not begin to describe her current mood, and that fact radiated off her bringing all who encountered the dangerous aura to sink back into the walls behind them and allow her to pass unhampered.

She was livid at the nerve of her colleagues, that they would have the gall to call _**her**_ to the underground bunker. Truth be told she didn't trust one of them, the other four members of the Cambridge Five. Guy Burgess and Duart Straight were almost too old for they own good. They had seen too much and nearing the end of their lives and she sensed that they were willing to take risks . . . risks that might not have the most favorable of outcomes. Andrea Blunt and Donald Maclean were another story entirely. It was actually almost cute that they thought it wasn't common knowledge that they have been sleeping together for nearly five years now, despite the fact that she was almost ten years his senior.

Behind her she heard Ivan fall into step, keeping up with her brisk pace. She couldn't say why exactly she had brought him aside from the fact he seemed to make Andrea and Donald uncomfortable. Donald was paranoid as hell, (and probably with good reason), no doubt he was convinced that she had one of Ivan's underlings following him around 90 of the time he was conscious . . . this was simply not true though, Ivan's men could only keep track of him and the other three about 60 of the time . . .

She reached the massive cast iron door and barely waited for the two Oprichniki to wrench it open for her before she pushed her way inside, Ivan right behind her. Four pairs of eyes immediately turned in her direction, some showing the appropriate amount of fear and hesitation, while others looking far too defiant for her liking.

The room was blanketed in silence which was good as far as she was concerned; they were still to afraid to address her like this . . . and it needed to stay that way. Kristen made sure Ivan was at attention behind her and squared her shoulders back, drawing herself up to full height. "Well?" Her voice was soft but deadly.

All four of the other people in the room glanced back and forth between themselves, but still none of them spoke. Kristen smiled internally . . . whoever called this meeting was certainly regretting it now. "Nothing? No one has anything to say?" She stepped up to the edge of the table, her gaze circling all four of them, who suddenly refused to meet her eyes. "Well then, if no one has anything to say, I'll talk." She put her hands on the edge of the table and leaned over it, a menacing look in her eyes. "I don't know what the hell the lot of you think that you're doing but if any of you ever –"

"This is taking too long, Kristen!" Donald was suddenly on his feet, a look of desperation on his face.

Kristen slowly turned to face him, "Excuse me, _Mr. Homer_," she narrowed his eyes, "or maybe I should just refer to you as Mr. Maclean, because you sure as hell don't seem to give a damn about your codename or what it means anymore!" She took another step towards the man, "Have you forgotten who you are Mr. Homer, have you forgotten what we're doing here?!"

"What are we doing here, Kristen?" His voice was strained and he looked as though he was going to back off, but one glance in Andrea's direction apparently changed his mind. Kristen tried not to roll her eyes, so she had put her little boy toy up to this; she wasn't sure what angered her more, the fact that he had actually listened to her, or that she didn't have the guts to do this herself.

For the time being however, Donald continued his little speech, "We're not doing anything, we're sitting around waiting and while we do, Josef's finishing up his doomsday machine and once he does –"

"Yes, yes Donald, we've been through this before." Kristen waved her hand dismissively as she took a seat at the head of the table, "Josef finishes SARIELS and then no matter we plan and scheme we will be helpless against him and his army."

"And even knowing all this, you're only response is to devote all of our time and energy to capturing this girl?!" He pointed wildly at one of the many surveillance pictures of her tacked to the wall.

Kristen felt herself lose what little patience she had previously had. "And what do you suggest we do otherwise, Mr. Homer?!" She ripped one of the pictures off the wall and threw it into the center of the table, "This girl is our only way we have to ensure that our plans to overthrow Josef, have all of you forgotten that?!"

Donald looked as though he was about to respond, but Guy Burgess's calm voice cut him off, "Of course we have not forgotten, Ms. Stanley." He smiled slightly at Kristen and she hated that the old man could defuse nearly any situation in this room, "However, we cannot help but grow concerned, we are putting all of our eggs in one basket and we _still_ don't have the girl. Please, understand our apprehensions do not stem from any lack of faith in your abilities, rather we are just –"

"I assure you Mr. Hicks that your concerns are unfounded." She gestured behind her where Ivan was still standing, "Commander Uzehasnyurieh assures me that he and his men are weeks away from launching an operation to extract our target. And once they bring her here, we will begin our plans to remove Josef from power."

"And how long will that take?" Duart Straight leaned forward over the table, "What if we don't get the girl before Josef finishes his new weapon?"

"We will." Kristen stated simply, "I will not tolerate otherwise."

All in the room fell silent and Kristen took that as a signal of their agreement, "Well then," she stood from her chair, and the other four stood out of respect as she did, "I believe that we're done here. I hope that all of you will sleep easier tonight."

The others in the room gathered their things and began to file out of the bunker. Kristen however, had one more piece of business to handle. "Ms. Johnson."

The woman stopped and turned in Kristen's direction. She approached her colleague, keeping her voice low so as not to alert the others, "Next time you've got a problem, Andrea, I want to hear it from you instead of your little pretty boy mouth piece."

The woman smiled at her slyly, "Why I have no idea what you're talking about Kristen. After all, you're the one that brought Donald here, you brought all of us here . . ." Andrea took a step closer so that their faces were side by side and lowered her voice, "So it must just be killing you that you can't control your own creations."

Kristen watched as she glided out of the room and was overcome with the desire to rip the smug smile off of her pretty face. She didn't like Andrea Blunt, but sadly she was a necessary evil if she had any hope of accomplishing her goals.

"If it's not to bold of me to say ma'am, I wouldn't concern myself with that woman, she's of no threat to you or your plans."

She closed her eyes and smiled, "Thank you Ivan, but it's not just her that I'm concerned about." She turned to look him straight in the eyes, "Commander, I have never once doubted your ability to carry out your assigned tasks. However, I can not emphasize enough just how much we need that girl . . . and soon."

- - - - -

Motoko leaned back in her chair and surveyed the situation. All around her, her colleagues were still reeling from the news that Kimi had dumped on them a day ago, some more loudly than others.

"I don't understand how any of you could possibly think that this was a good idea!"

"Cong –" Motoko began to her friend, but was quickly cut off.

"Don't use that exasperated tone, Motoko!" the Chinese man rounded on her as he spoke, "Kimi couldn't have picked a worse time for this!"

There was a sharp laugh from Liam's direction, "Was there a good time that she could have picked Cong?" The large man smiled good naturedly at his friend, but Cong didn't seem to appreciate the gesture.

"How about not when Josef's on the brink of launching an operational SARIELS and we still haven't finished the program that will stop it?!"

"I will soon however," Proto added softly, "Yuy-san has been a great asset to me and from the work he's done and the notes he made I should be able to finish the virus very soon."

Cong let out a frustrated grunt before he turned to the rest of the group, growing increasingly desperate for any one of them to take his side, "Fine then! So Proto finishes the virus and she won't even be here to work out the final stages of our plan!" He waved his hand dismissively as a thought struck him, "And she's the only one who can get in touch with her mole in Josef's ranks! How are we going to figure out how to plant the virus if she's not here to –"

"Cong," Ryo Aramaki cut him off, "you know perfectly well that it's not a simple matter of picking up the phone. It will take Kimi and her contact several weeks to work something out –"

"Exactly! Which is why –"

"_And_," the older man continued, "she does not have to be here to get in touch with him."

Erin stood from her seat and walked to the fridge removing a bottle of water, "Besides, you don't really be thinkin' that she were just goin' to sit here on her arse an' let her friends go crazy waitin' for her, did you?"

"Fine!" Cong, threw his hands up in the air, "Yeah, this is a great idea, let's just send Kimi – _the Kimi_ – off with some guy we pulled out a prison a month ago after he just showed up one day trying to find her!"

"Cong . . ." Motoko found herself growing impatient.

"Oh, hey Mo," Cong turned to her with a twisted and obviously fake grin on his face, "maybe we'll get really lucky and she'll go the way of David! You remember David, right? Does this situation feel familiar? Left one day, said he'd be right back then we never heard from him again!"

Motoko sighed, "This situation is slightly different Cong."

"How?! How is this any different?!"

"Well for one thing, I'm not a 70 year-old man in questionable health."

The room's seven occupants all turned in the direction of the voice. Relena was making her way down the stairs into the Suki's lounge area, Heero right behind her, "And for another, I will have one of the Preventer Agency's best men escorting me."

Cong sighed and shook his head, "Kimi, I don't mean any disrespect, I-I'm just concerned. If you would let one of us come with you –"

She silenced him by raising her hand and smiled, "I'm very appreciative of your desire to make sure that I'm safe, Cong," she looked around him to the rest of her friends and trusted advisors, "to all of you. I have to go back though."

"Hey, no arguments over here." Liam put his hands in front of his chest as though surrendering. He smiled at his young leader, "Just be careful, Lena."

"I will." A heavy silence hung in the air and Heero couldn't help but feel that he was intruding. Without a word Liam, stepped away from the wall he was leaning on and pulled Relena into a bear hug, lifting the much smaller person off the floor. No sooner had he set her down than Erin had thrown her arms around Relena's neck, "Give Wufei a smack up the head for me, dear."

Relena gave the Irish woman a confused look, "What did he do now?"

Erin shrugged, "Well nothin' that I know of, but I'm sure that there's something."

The two shared a laugh and Relena turned to where Cathal, Proto, Aramaki, Motoko, and Cong were waiting. "Any one else want a hug?" Cong and Motoko looked as though they were daring her to try, while Proto seemed like he was on the verge of raising his hand. Cathal and Aramaki simply watched her.

Relena bent down to grab her duffle bag from the floor, a goofy smile on her face as she stood up, "Alright then, you guys know the drill: If anything happens I'll find a way to get in touch with, the numbers for the other Keiji villages and the fire department are on the fridge, Cathal's not allowed to have any ice cream before bed, no more than one hour of TV for each of you, Liam's in charge while I'm gone." She shouldered her bag and waited for Erin to stop laughing before heading towards the stairs where Heero was waiting. She paused to wave to her friends, "I'll be back in about a month, try not to burn the place down alright?"

She joined Heero at the top of the stairs and they started down the hall towards the elevators. As soon as they were out of earshot, Heero stopped Relena, "This is going to take more than a month."

"What?"

"It's two weeks there, and two weeks back, plus time to see everyone –"

"No," she cut him off, "we don't have to be as discreet going back. I can get us there in a week." Heero raised his eyebrows and she laughed, "Sorry, no airplanes still. We're going to take a train this morning west to a small city called Wulmugi, in North China. Then tomorrow morning we're taking another train west to Astana in Kazakhstan, where we're going to pick up a truck and drive across the border to Omsk, Russia. From there it's a two day train ride to Moscow, switch over to the one going for St. Petersberg. Then we're taking a boat to Helsinki, Finland and one last ferry to New Port City."

"Sounds like you've got this all planed out."

She elbowed him playfully as they stepped out of the elevator and onto the underground compound's main floor, "It's one of our usual routes."

"But there isn't any risk of us being followed or discover –"

"Kimi!"

Both of them whirled around at the voice, but before Heero could even react, a dark blur had seized Relena by the shoulders. It took Heero only a moment to recognize the individual.

Sean.

He barely seemed to notice Heero however, and was more intent on yelling desperately at Relena. "It's not true is it?! You're not actually leaving, are you Kimi?!"

Relena smiled slightly and pushed Sean's hands off her shoulders, "I'll be back in a month Sean, I just have some business to take –"

"With him?!" He practically screamed the words and pointed in Heero's direction. "With _this guy_ who just shows up out of no where after we had to rescue him from some Oprichniki hell hole! He could be one of their spies for all you know and you're just leaving with him!?"

"Sean, please calm down –"

"I will not!!" He grabber her shoulders again and continued screaming, "All these years, all this time and this jackass shows up and you just leave with him!?"

"Sean, I'm not leaving, what's wrong with y–"

But Sean was hardly listening anymore, his voice was crazed and frantic sounding, "It was always _him_ wasn't it! No matter what I did, I could never –" He shook her shoulders as he spoke . . . and that was all Heero needed.

Without a word, he seized Sean by the arm and swung him into the wall, pinning his left arm behind him. Sean however, wheeled around with his right hand, and landed a punch squarely on the side of Heero's head. The Preventers Agent stumbled backward and in that brief time, Sean was on top of him, but quickly flipped over again and found himself starting up at Heero's fist.

"Both of you stop it!!"

Heero paused just before his hand made contact with Sean's face; but he did not step back from the other man. Sean looked up at him from the floor with an insane look in his eyes; the man's breath was heavy but slow and the rage he was in was radiating off of his body.

"Heero, let go of him." Relena came to stand beside him, "Please, we have to leave or we'll miss our train."

The Japanese man nodded and let go of Sean, who did not get up from the floor. Relena turned back to him, a confused and hurt expression on her face, "Sean . . . what's wrong with you?"

Sean sat back against the wall and wiped away some of the blood that was now dripping from his nose, "He show's up and you just leave." His voice was raspy and bitter sounding.

Heero had to stop himself from pulling Relena back when she knelt down in front of him. Her voice was firm as she spoke, "I already explained to you and the rest of Keiji that I will be back in a month, this is no different than any other time I've been gone . . . and for much longer I may add." She stood and picked her bag up from the floor, "Whatever's bothering you Sean, straighten it out before I get back."

Heero watched them as they continued down the hall and into the sunlight outside . . . he wouldn't put it past the man to try and attack him again.

"He's not going to come after us."

He was caught off guard by the comment, "You seem pretty sure about that considering the guy was waiting by the elevators to confront you the moment you came out."

"I've never seen him like that . . . I don't know wha –"

"Relena," Heero stopped dead in his tracks, "the guy's got some kind of an obsession with you! How do you not see that?"

She shook her head, "I don't see it because it doesn't matter." She smiled softly at him, "Sean's not my type."

Heero closed his eyes and allowed a rare smile to quirk the very edges of his mouth as they continued down the trail to the motor pool where the jeep was waiting that they would take to the train station and begin their journey back.

- - - - -

"Agent Maxwell!"

Duo stopped dead in his tracks and whirled around at the sound of his name. If it weren't for the black and khaki uniform she wore, Francheska Biddle would have practically blended into the white wall she had just stepped away from. He had been out of the office at the training academy all morning and would be there all afternoon as well, but he had a lunch meeting with Wufei in . . . well five minutes ago. How Francheska knew that to wait for him beside the elevator bay on Wufei's floor he had no idea but kept in mind that she was both Heero Yuy's intern and protégé, he couldn't put anything past her. Speaking of Heero, Duo had the distinct impression his best friend was about to become the subject of discussion.

For the time being however, Duo put on a happy face, "Frannie! Staking me out for an autograph again huh?"

Francheska ignored the nickname that she hated but had to put up with and locked eyes with Agent Maxwell. Suddenly the speech that she had rehearsed over and over again in her mind for days left her and she found her gaze drifting towards the floor. It had been weeks since she had first thought about asking Agent Maxwell . . . and for those weeks she had been telling herself that she was being silly, there was nothing to worry about and even if there was, it certainly was not her place to question the situation. But even knowing all of this, it didn't change the fact that _no one_ on Agent Yuy's team had seen or heard from him for over two months. He had phoned and e-mailed during his covert assignment but then Agent Maxwell and Agent Chang had returned, and Agent Yuy had not. She and the rest of his team had been told his assignment had been continued but something still just seemed . . . off to her.

"Hey, Francheska you alright there?"

"Wha –" Francheska snapped out of her daze and looked back up to where Agent Maxwell was now looking at her with a concerned expression. "I-I'm sorry, Agent Maxwell." She straightened up and looked him dead in the eye, her confidence suddenly returning. "Sir, I realize that I am out of line in doing so however I hope you will indulge –"

"Whoa, Frannie," Duo's face split into a grin and he put his hands up in a defensive position, "come on now, how long have you known me? You know that I can't stand all that formality." He put an arm around her shoulder and began leading her towards the 26th floor's break room. "Now, why don't you calm down and tell me what's on your mind?"

Francheska took a deep breath as they rounded the last corner in stepped into the large room filled with couches and tables. Duo took a seat in one and gestured for her to sit down opposite of him, but before she could, Francheska blurted out what she had come here for, "Agent Maxwell, sir, where is Agent Yuy?"

The braided man blanched at her, but recovered quickly. He tapped the seat across from him and this time Francheska complied and sat down. Duo leaned in close to her, trying to keep his voice even as his did so, "Francheska, you know that I can't tell you that."

Francheska let her gaze fall to her lap, suddenly feeling very stupid, "I-I know that, but . . . he hasn't been in contact . . . at all, and A-agent Maxwell, I –"

"You're just worried about him." Duo finished for her. He couldn't help but feel bad for the young woman. It was no secret to him that after Relena's disappearance, Francheska Biddle had taken it upon herself to look after her former boss's best friend. There was no doubt in Duo's mind that Francheska had left her internship in ESUN because she wanted to put her skills to use in fighting the war . . . but he also knew that she was deeply concerned about Heero. It was as if she had considered it her duty to her mentor and idol to care for the person she had cared for most.

Duo put a hand on Francheska's shoulder and tried to sound comforting, "Francheska, I know that you're concerned. I can't tell you anything except that, you know Heero can handle himself."

Francheska could do nothing but nod solemnly. She knew that this was the answer that she would be receiving . . . but she couldn't help but hope that maybe Agent Maxwell could have told her something more. "He's alright though?"

Duo tried to make sure the expression on his face was not one that would upset her; it just seemed so wrong to lie to the girl, even if it was to protect both her, Heero, and though she didn't even know it, Relena too. "If something had happened, I would tell you."

He smiled as best he could at her and returned the gesture, though her own grin was much smaller than hers. "Now then," Duo stood and checked his watch, "I have a meeting that was supposed to start 15 minutes ago."

Francheska mumbled an apology for keeping him, but Duo waved it off as he exited the break room, leaving a visibly upset Preventers Officer in his wake. He continued down the short distance to Wufei's office, trying to clear his mind and focus on the business they had to discuss as he went.

He knocked twice on the door and was immediately given permission to enter. Wufei was seated behind his desk, already digging into the paper carton of what smelled like teriyaki noodles with his chopsticks.

"You're late, you're food's getting cold." He pushed two other cartons toward the opposite side of his desk.

"Well hello to you to." Duo smiled as he took a seat in front of Wufei and began opening the containers of food. "So then, what's on the docket today?"

Wufei reached into one of his desk drawers and pulled out a thick folder, which he tossed across the table to Duo. "Washington wants us to go over Malta and Quebec's proposed political strategy for the relocation of ESUN back to Brussels, should we decide to forcibly remove Josef from his self-declared position."

Duo let out a bark of laughter as he opened the folder, "They don't think that's a bit premature . . . I mean like by a couple years maybe?"

The Chinese man shrugged, "Malta seems to have Washington convinced that with Josef's new toy –"

"The satellite-destructo-ray thing?" Duo interrupted, while stuffing his mouth full of noodles.

"What other 'toy' do you think I could be talking about, Maxwell?" Wufei rolled his eyes but Duo just shrugged and smiled as best he could in return. "Anyway, Malta's got Washington, Quebec, Argonaut, and Moscow all convinced that we need to come up with a plan to take out Josef now."

"Two plans from the look of this." Duo flipped through the pages, his expression growing dark as he continued reading, "They can't be serious."

It was Wufei's turn to shrug, "The one thing that Malta's right about is that we need to plan for everything."

"But she's not even back yet and they've got two different plans here, one for if the Princess goes along with what they want and one for if she won't!"

"Read the entire file, Maxwell, her code name is 'Paris'." Wufei leaned back in his chair and picked up some more noodles, "And the fact is that we don't know what's going to happen when she gets back."

"At this rate I'm starting to think it's _if_ she gets back, man." Duo set down the file and leaned across the desk he spoke in as low and calm a voice as he could muster, "At what point do we start getting concerned about Casablanca?" Wufei looked as though he was about to speak, but Duo interrupted him, "Look man, I'm not saying that I don't trust your people or anything, but like you said it's a long and dangerous trip –"

"Something could have happened to them along the way." Wufei finished for him. He leaned forward as well, "It's only been two months –"

"Yeah, so two weeks there, two weeks back . . . I mean what could possibly be happening?"

"Maybe Paris refuses to leave. Casablanca's group could have gotten there and Paris might have been away. They could have been delayed getting to her villages. Maybe she had some things to take care of before she left."

Duo sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Yeah . . . but it's been two months." He sunk back in his chair, taking his noodles with him as he went, "When do we start getting worried?"

"When we hear that something went wrong." Duo opened his mouth to object, but Wufei continued, "In the meantime we have to assume that they could be back any day now and be ready for every possible outcome."

"Yeah, yeah, let's get to it." The braided man opened the file again, and began reading.

Several minutes passed in complete silence as both men read, occasionally making notes. It was Duo that first looked up at the clock. He had to get back to the Academy in fifteen minutes, meaning he had only ten to ask his friend a question that had been nagging him for weeks now.

"Alright look Wufei, here's what I don't get."

Wufei set down his chopsticks and looked up to where Duo was now reclining in his chair. The braided man across the desk from him had a thoughtful look on his face, "Well?"

"Huh? Oh right, yeah." Duo straightened up in his seat and leaned forward over the table, "Look, I've got tell ya . . . and I didn't want to say anything in front of everyone, and I'm not saying that you know, you're not telling us everything, but something's been bothering me and –"

"Get to the point, Duo."

Duo sighed before blurting, "These guys . . . why didn't they just kill Paris?"

"Why would Keiji kill Paris?"

"No, not Keiji . . . you know the Cambridge Five and Josef and all them." He closed the file folder and set in Wufei's desk, "From what you guys guessed and pieced together, they wanted her out of the way so that they could frame us for it. They got into her bedroom, why didn't they just kill her? Why would they take pictures and send them to her so that she would know someone was after her? And, hell, they might never have gotten that opportunity again, why didn't they just kill her then?"

Wufei wrinkled his eyebrows for a second before relaxing into comprehension, "Honestly, I can't tell you."

Silence hung in the room, Duo couldn't say for how long, but finally he couldn't take it any more, "That's the best answer you've got?!"

The Chinese man lifted his head and locked eyes with Duo, "What do you want Maxwell? I don't have an answer." He set down his pen and stood, "Paris and I spent months trying to figure this out ourselves and the best we could come up with is either that they still wanted something out of her before they killed her, or someone screwed up, plain and simple."

Duo raked his hand through his bangs, suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling by a sense of dread, "Look, am I the only person here who is concerned about the fact that someone had apparently been stalking Paris for months before she left and not only did we never catch the guy, but now it seems some one is still following her around."

"Maxwell –"

"And we still don't even know why the hell they didn't kill her in the first place! Do you have any idea the danger we could be putting her in by bringing her back here?!"

"Of course, I do Maxwell," Wufei kept his voice surprisingly even considering the frustration that was splayed across his face, "that's why we're planning for every possible scenario." He gestured to the papers they had just been reading that were now spread out across his desk.

Duo sighed and shook his head, "Yeah, I guess you're right." He took his jacket from the back of the chair and slid it on, "Alright man, I've got to be getting back to the Academy."

Wufei cast him a rare sympathetic look, "I thought you did your week of training duty for the quarter already."

"Yeah," Duo sniffed in an exaggerated way, "Une's got me covering Heero's week too, can you believe that?"

His friend smiled slyly, "Well now you're in the unique situation of having Heero Yuy owe you a favor." Duo gave a short laugh and turned for the door, but Wufei stopped him, "Duo, we'll see both of them soon and once we do, we'll put together a plan, and we'll get this whole mess sorted out."

Duo nodded, bidding Wufei good-bye and walked through the door. As he came to elevator bay he couldn't help but think back his earlier conversation with Francheska and even though he trusted Wufei completely and not once in his life had he ever doubted Heero's abilities and determination . . . but he still couldn't help but wonder what had become of his best friend.

- - - - -

"No! No! I mean, nine! No, wait, nyet! Nyet sobaki!"

Relena stifled a laugh as she watched Heero. He probably could use a hand but for the moment she was happy to watch him struggle with trying to negotiate with the Russian merchant. They were here to pick up a truck with snow treads to get them across the frozen tundra to Omsk. The merchant and Heero, however were having experiencing some communication issues.

"Relena!" She looked up at the sound of her name to where Heero was gesturing for her to join him. The merchant was trying to hand Heero the reins to a large team of sled dogs, which Heero was pushing back on him while yelling in broken Russian. "Ya, gavoreet nyet! Nyet sobaki! Myuri, mash- damn it, Lena what's 'truck' in Russian?"

Relena smiled as she approached the two men and knelt down to pet one of the dogs, "We can't just take these guys?" She moved aside so Heero could get a clear view, "Look how cute they are."

Heero smiled a bit a rolled his eyes, "Yeah, they're cute now, but I'm the one who's going to end up walking them, and feeding them, and cleaning up after them."

She pouted at him, "But –"

"Besides, you already have one of these back in Brussels."

Relena wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion, "What?"

It was Heero's turn to laugh now, "After you vanished, Duo and Hilde passed your Christmas present onto me, they got you a puppy."

It looked as though she had suddenly gotten paler, "They got me a puppy? And you've been taking care of it?"

"Her. Her name's Hitomi." He turned back to the confused and frustrated looking merchant, "So we don't need any more, just get us the truck please so we can get out of here."

Relena slapped his arm playfully before addressing the merchant, "Hohtehm myuri sneg gruzovic, pojaleesta."

The man gave her a disappointed look and gestured to the dogs again, "Nyet sobaki prevlekahtehlnyuriee?"

Relena's eyes widened and she pointed an accusing finger at the man, but her mouth cracked into a smile, "Vyuri govoriteh po-ahglieeski!"

The man burst into laughter and turned to Heero, "My apologeez young man, vut I could not rezeest."

Relena could have sworn she heard Heero's jaw hit the ground, "All this time, you spoke English?!"

The merchant continued laughing, with Relena now joining him and continued speaking with his thick accent, "Pleese, forgeeve me, vut eet is not often that I have the chance to speek with outsiders. Az I said, I could not rezeest." He reached into his pocket and produced a pair of keys which he handed to Relena who was now wiping tears from her eyes. "Your truck eez around the other side of the buildeeng. It eez the large red one, you cannot meess eet."

Heero could not stop staring blankly at the still laughing man. It was only Relena's hand on his arm, dragging him away from the merchant and towards the back of the building that brought him back to reality. She was still chuckling under her breath, but he was in no mood, "How did you find out that he spoke English?"

She steadied herself with a deep breath, "Because when I asked for the truck he asked if I was sure I didn't want the "cute dogs". He had heard us talking about them before." She broke down into renewed laughter.

Heero just shook his head; even if it was at his expense, it was good to hear her laugh again. He hated to ruin the mood, but while he had her alone and in good humor, he had a question that had been nagging at him since the day they had left Shitou.

"Relena, what really happened to David Trotsky?"

The laughing immediately stopped and she looked at him with a slightly confused expression but was not quick enough to hide her surprise at the question, "Who?"

He stopped walking and shook his head, "It's good to know that you're still not a very good liar."

She also stopped and turned to face him, letting out a sigh as she did, "I was just never good at lying to you."

A moment of silence passed before Relena spun on her heels and continued walking towards the truck leaving a slightly dumbfounded Heero in her wake. "Well?"

She was almost smiling when she looked back at him, "'Well' what?"

"Well are you going to tell me what happened to Trotsky?"

Relena let her shoulders slump and gestured for Heero to join her. She waited until he had caught up and they were walking again before speaking. "After Trotsky went to you, Une, and the Yalta Task Force we knew his days were numbered . . . possibly to hours."

"So he ran off with you guys . . . and all this time we thought that he had been abducted."

"He was abducted," she locked eyes with him, "by Keiji."

Heero wrinkled his eyebrows, "You guys kidnapped him?"

"We didn't have a choice," she twirled a bit of her hair around her fingers as though she was embarrassed by this action for some reason, "there was no time to convince him, Josef was planning to have him killed, and he was valuable to Keiji."

"And he just went along with all this?"

She smiled at him slightly while elbowing his side as if telling a joke; he couldn't say why, but he found the gesture unsettling. Relena continued talking, and Heero pushed the feeling out of his mind, trying to focus in her words instead of the casual manner she was delivering them in. "I didn't meet him until a couple of months after it had happened, by then he had kind of settled in."

Heero shook his head a little, "So does your village specialize in hiding high profile government officials?"

Relena laughed a bit, "Not just my village, it's kind of a habit of Keiji's. Anyway, the previous Kimi –"

"Long Jiang?" Heero clarified for himself.

She nodded in reply, "Yes, Jiang decided that Trotsky could be of more use to us in Shitou considering that we dealt with operations in Europe and he had very valuable inside information into Josef and his inner circle. The village that handles operations in North America was in need of another Political Advisor –"

"What happened to the old one?" Heero tried to keep his voice from sounding overly concerned.

"She disappeared when she was on assignment in the South West quarter of the North American continent."

"Disappearing seems to be both a hazard and a specialty of people who hold that position in your organization."

Relena shrugged in return, "And our Operations Specialists have a tendency to be assassinated . . . just part of the job I suppose."

Heero closed his eyes and tried to shake off the callousness of Relena's statements. It was understandable that after all the time she had spent in Keiji, encountering death and loss on what had to be almost a daily basis Relena would be somewhat desensitized to things like this. He knew that the casual words and tone of voice and the dark humor were just ways to cope with constant death and loss. Beside him, Relena continued talking.

"Anyway, Jiang wanted Trotsky to stay at Shitou –"

"But he didn't last long I take it." Heero interrupted, "You became the Political Advisor for your village only a year after you got there. So what happened to Trotsky?"

Relena sighed, "He and two others were on their to one of the other Keiji villages, but they never got there. They disappeared somewhere along the way." Relena lowered her voice and suddenly would not meet Heero's eyes, "We never found out what happened to them . . . we assumed that they were killed or captured by the Oprichniki."

"But you never found any definitive proof of this?" Relena gave him a curious look but shook her head to answer 'no'. "And then with Trotsky gone, you became the Shitou Political Advisor."

She nodded, but her eyes narrowed a bit, "Yes . . . I told you that already."

Heero locked with Relena, "You don't think I'd find it a bit odd that David Trotsky ended up at your village, then vanished one day and you just happened to be there to fill his spot?"

Relena suddenly stopped walking; her eyes had a hard and determined tone to them, and her voice was resolute as if she'd practiced what she was about to say, "David Trotsky vanished two years, nobody knows for sure what happened to him." She turned and began walking again, "That's all I can tell you, Heero."

But he knew immediately that that wasn't all there was to the story. He was not being shut out by her, she just couldn't tell him.

Heero brought himself out of his thoughts and jogged to catch up with Relena. As they rounded the corner, they found their truck waiting for them. Relena pulled open the driver's side door, but was stopped by a hand on her wrist. She turned around to find Heero smirking at her.

"I'll drive." He put his hand out for the keys.

Relena smiled in and an annoyed way and tossed him the keys, "You know how to get where we're going?"

Heero was tossing their bags in the back, "I can read a map." He gave her a hand up into the truck then followed her, pausing for a moment as she slid across the bench and unfolded the large paper map. Heero put the keys in the ignition and the vehicle roared to life.

"So where exactly on that map are we going?"

- - - - -

Trowa watched as the helicopter that they had just repelled from flew off into the night. Beside him, Ickes was rearranging their gear while York and Lancaster were scanning and typing behind them. They weren't sure exactly where they were quite yet, just somewhere on the west coast of sub-Saharan Africa. Elizabeth could be anywhere on this continent . . . well that wasn't entirely true. According to the intelligence reports and their own experiences, Elizabeth was most likely in Johannesburg. The Oprichniki would not risk allowing such a valuable prisoner to be kept any where else.

The trouble was going to be actually getting to Johannesburg. The city was Josef's capital, his fortress; while civilians continued to live their lives there, it had for all intents and purposes become the largest military base in the world. Even with the millions living there it would be difficult for them to blend in, let alone find a way to gain access to the prisons and holding cells.

"Agent Barton, sir."

Trowa turned around at the sound of Ickes' voice. "Sir, Officers York and Lancaster have triangulated our location."

"And?"

York came to stand beside him and showed him the glowing laptop screen he was holding, it was the only source of light in the vast dark that enveloped them from all sides. "Sir, it appears the drop actually went better than planned." He pointed to he screen, "By our best estimates, we're about twenty miles north-northwest of a small town." 

"Do we have any intelligence on the town?"

"Our database indicates that Leon's Army uses the village as a stop off if their trekking through the area, but they have no permanent bases there. Even if there is a platoon or even a larger unit there when we arrive they shouldn't think anything of us, considering our disguises." York smiled slyly at his commander.

Trowa nodded and began peeling off his jump suit. Ickes, York, and Lancaster had already done so, and left them in a pile; Trowa added his to the heap and tightened the belt on his khaki shorts. They were disguising themselves as a small, independent team of anthropologists there to document the migration of tribes and peoples at the end of the rainy season . . . which was fast approaching.

"Alright, Ickes, bury the jump suits, and let's move out, with any luck we can be there by sunrise."

His intern set about his appointed task and Trowa began to help Lancaster pack up their remaining gear. He knew that he was taking a massive risk for a woman that was in all likelihood dead but . . . he had to try. He could not simply give her up for dead, he could not abandon the woman he loved.

- - - - -

Heero bid the train conductor a goodnight and slid the door shut. It had been four days since they had left Shitou. They had just made their train to Moscow after getting lost while driving to Omsk . . . he didn't want to point fingers but it was all Relena's fault. He locked the door, sullenly thinking back to his now broken vow to never again ride in one of these damned sleeper trains. At least the company was better this time.

Upon turning back to Relena he found her seated next to the window, gazing out into the night, the light of the full moon making her skin look even paler than it normally did. He had noticed a distinct change come over her. She had been chatty and happy on their drive to Omsk, but as they were waiting to check in for their tickets and as they boarded the train . . . in those short hours she had seems to withdraw into herself. He knew that she was nervous, you didn't need a psyche degree to figure that out. He wanted to comfort her but she had not touched him since the morning after they had slept together. She was not distant by any stretch of the imagination, but she kept a friendly distance from him at all times.

Heero continued to watch her, waiting for her to say something but she only continued to stare out of the window; he finally broke out of his trance when she shivered and drew the blanket more tightly around her shoulders.

Something came over him as he crossed the tiny room and seated himself beside her, bringing a hand up to her forehead. Suddenly, he didn't care if her body language was pushing him away, her eyes were begging him to comfort her. She started at his touch but did not pull away. "Heero –"

"You're a little warm." he cut her off gently. "We should have made sure the truck was warmer on the drive over here." He removed his hand from her forehead and took hers in it instead.

"I'm sure it's just a cold."

Heero nodded and gave her a small smile, "Yeah, we'll put that on your tombstone."

Relena laughed for a moment, but the sound coming from her abruptly changed and without warning she threw herself against Heero's chest, sobs racking her body. He had known that she was bottling up this emotion but he had no idea when it was going to come out. For the time being all he could do was hold her and wait for her to calm down.

How long they stayed like that, he couldn't say but slowly her sobs were reduced to hiccups and her breathing evened out. Just as Heero thought she had fallen asleep she spoke.

"How am I going to be able to face them?"

He took a deep breath and drew her in closer, "Your brother, Noin, Duo, Hilde, Sally, Cathy, Dorothy and Quatre everyone back there . . . they're waiting to see you."

"But how can I possibly face them?" Her voice was meek sounding, like she might break down again.

"They're your family Relena, they love you. They're just glad that you're alive."

Relena shook her head, "No . . . they should be furious with me . . . they should hate me for letting them think that I was dead for all these years."

Heero sighed and took a deep breath, "Relena, could you ever hate any of them, no matter what they did?"

She made a noise somewhere between a hiccup and a laugh, "No . . . I could never hate any of them."

"Then what makes you think that they could hate you?" He squeezed her hand, "Relena, they understand why you did what you did. They just want to have you back."

"They can't!" Relena wrenched herself out of his grasp, "Heero, I told you, they can't have me back!" Her voice suddenly became panicked, "I want to see them and I want them to know that I'm okay, but I have to leave again and go back to Shitou!"

Something clicked in his head, "Relena . . . are you afraid to leave again?"

She drew in a shuddering breath, "I-it's not . . . I-I'm not afraid to . . . it's just . . . I know that it's going to be so hard to . . ."

"Relena," Heero shifted Relena so that he could look at her face, "look, you're not feeling well . . . maybe you should try and get some sleep."

She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt, "Yeah . . ." she stood and took a step towards the bed, "these are ideal conditions for a good nights sleep."

Heero favored her with a small smile before putting an arm around her waist and guiding her to the bed, pulling back the blankets before she sat down. "Try and get some rest."

He stood to move away but to his surprise, Relena reached out to take his hands. Heero looked down at her only to be met with pleading eyes, "Heero . . . stay with tonight . . ."

Without a word he nodded and sat down beside her on the bed to kick his shoes off. Relena waited for him to finish before wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling them both down on the bed. Heero shifted his weight to press Relena against his chest. She sighed into his neck and took his hand. He reached beside the bed and turned off the light, murmuring a 'good night' as he did so, leaving Relena to her thoughts.

She too closed her eyes and tried to relax herself into sleep . . . but her racing mind would not hear it. She had been dreading their trip back for so many reasons, but most of them, she truly believed would come work themselves out . . . one however would not.

No matter how she looked at it, no matter what she did, leaving Shitou with Heero meant eventually returning with out him.

- - - - -

It was going to happen.

She had been listening to them, watching them, and slowly piecing together their plans. Hell, it wasn't like she had anything else to do. The reasons didn't matter though, what mattered was that these people were going to succeed in their plans and there was nothing she could do to stop them. She understood this now.

Elizabeth rolled onto her back, trying not to upset her still tender legs as she did. She glanced down at her arms, hardly recognizing the pale, pasty skin as her own any more. She had lost track of the number of days that she had been locked up here but she knew that it was well into two months.

Her time held prisoner would not go to waste however, she would see to that personally. The questioning, the interrogations, and both of her broken legs would not be for naught. She had not given them any information, but she had heard enough from them. The Oprichniki were going to capture their target and in all likelihood they were going to bring her here . . . and when they did she would be here as well. Waiting, waiting for the second they turned their back on her, the moment they made one wrong move . . . she would make hers.

She would do whatever was necessary to ensure that whatever plans they had for this girl would never come to fruition.


	18. Dear and Beloved

Finally, almost back on normal schedule with these chapters! I'm so excited to finish writing the next one, so hopefully I will have it up soon.

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I know I've been slacking off with my updates, but please, stick with me! There are a lot more twists and turns to come in this story! On that note, this is probably the last of the feel-good chapters . . . it's a bumpy ride from here on out . . .

Thank you again, so much for all the support and encouragement. I hope the story will continue to be enjoyable!

Chapter 18 – Dear and Beloved

Occam's Razor

Tynan

- - - - -

Relena squinted her eyes into the light from the sun which was now rising over New Port City. Behind her, Heero took their bags from the Preventers officer that had just scanned them. He joined her and they stepped off the ferry and into the Sanq Kingdom. Relena looked around her at the city that had once been so familiar; the port was almost unrecognizable. Cement barricades lined piers and gangways, Preventers and L-10 soldiers with automatic weapons patrolled the area; they ushered arriving civilians through the many check points that dotted the entrance. Passports, security clearances, traveling papers, and a host of other forms of identification were all required to gain entrance to the country that now hosted the exiled ESUN government.

Heero set their bags on the floor to present their papers to one last L-10 soldier, seated behind a large counter. Relena sighed internally, unsure if she should be proud of the fact that Keiji's forged papers could get them through such high levels of security, or concerned that Preventers and L-10 were unable to spot them.

"Ma'am?"

Relena's head snapped up at the sound of the soldier's impatient sounding voice, "I-I'm sorry, what?"

"I asked for your name ma'am." he stated forcefully.

"Rachel O'Leary, sir." she answered without hesitation, as she had so many times before. Beside her, Heero took her hand, and squeezed it gently.

The soldier typed a few commands into his computer, it beeped, and he scanned their passports. "And the purpose of your visit, Mr. O'Leary?"

"We're here to look at several schools for our daughter." Heero answered simply.

"And which schools might those be, Mrs. O'Leary?"

He was switching back and forth between them, checking their story by trying to make one of them slip up. "The Lavelle-Wall Institute, the Kolan Academy, and St. Anthony's School for Girls." Relena quickly rattled off.

The soldier looked up from his computer, "But you didn't bring your daughter with you?"

"She's only four years old." Heero interjected, "We didn't see a reason to drag her across the continent."

The computer beeped again and the soldier gave it a curious look. For a moment Relena's heart stopped; while there shouldn't be any sort of a problem with their papers, there was always a chance that facial recognition software could pick her out if it was being used.

"Sorry about that," the soldier handed Heero their passports back, "this thing's a bit slow sometimes."

"Not a problem." Heero responded as he folded up their papers and tucked them back into his bag.

The soldier pressed a button and the metal door in front of them swung open, "Welcome to the Sanq Kingdom, Mr. and Mrs. O'Leary. Enjoy your stay."

Relena smiled to the young man as they stepped through the gate and into the busy port area of New Port City. She took a deep breath as she lifted her eyes, tracing the city's skyline as they continued to climb upward, finally coming to rest on the palace, perched on the edge of the massive hill that towered over the city. A flood of emotions washed over her, but as they receded she found a sense that she could only describe a dread lingering over her. She had been preparing herself for this over the past week . . . but being here now . . . seeing it like this . . .

"Are you alright?" Heero's voice brought her out of her daze. His face was set with knowing concern.

She bent down to pick up the bag she had dropped without even realizing it, "I'm fine . . . it's just a lot to take in. I've been here undercover several times over the years, but . . ."

"It's different now." he finished for her.

She nodded in reply the gestured to a café on the corner, "Can we stop for a cup of coffee before we head up there?"

Heero shook his head, "The coffee's fine, but we're not going to the palace until tomorrow."

Relena's face wrinkled in confusion as they set off in the direction of the coffee shop, "What do you mean?"

"Aside from the fact that I think you need to take some time before we go there –"

"Heero, I'm here now, I can't –"

"Relena," he stopped dead in his tracks and put a hand on her shoulder to turn her to face him, "it's been three and a half years, they can wait one more day. Besides that, we have one stop we have to make before then."

- - - - -

Zechs sat bolt upright as a shrill noise suddenly filled his bedroom. Beside him, Lucrezia rolled over and lifted her head at the sound as well, "Zechs, it's the phone."

The eldest Peacecraft shook his head and climbed out of bed, pulling on a t-shirt as he went to where the offending device was still ringing. He reached for it with a sense of apprehension; it wasn't even 6:00 in the morning and this was his private line. The only people who ever called him on it were members of the Yalta Task Force . . . and to call this early couldn't be good news.

"Department of Agriculture." Zechs answered the phone with his designated code for the month of March and waited for the person on the other end to answer with the proper code.

"It's Casablanca."

Zechs felt his eyes go wide and nearly dropped the receiver, "Yuy?!"

Behind him, Lucrezia jumped out of bed and ran to his side, her voice frantic, "It's Heero?! Where is he? Did he find her? What's going –"

"Yuy, what the hell happened to you?! You've been –"

Heero cut him off with a quite but firm tone, "My apologies for the delay . . . the mission didn't go as planned."

Noin had had all she could take of not hearing the other end of the conversation and before her husband could stop her, darted her hand out to press the speaker phone button, "Heero, we were beginning to think that you'd been killed! Are you back?"

"Did you find her? Is she with you?!" Zechs tried to keep his voice quiet but found himself unable to do so.

"We'll be there –"

"So she's with you?!" Noin practically screamed at the speaker.

"Yes, we'll arrive tomorrow –"

"Alright, we'll get in touch with Une, and make arrangements to leave for Brussels in an hour –"

"You didn't let me finish," the Preventers agent was beginning to sound impatient, "stay where you are, we'll be coming to you first thing tomorrow morning."

Zechs stopped, "You're coming here?"

"Yes, so make whatever preparations you need to. Add two people with the last name O'Leary as expected visitors of yours for tomorrow, tell the L-10 security that they're childhood friends of Noin's. Be waiting for us in your private library."

"Fine, is she with you right now? I want to talk to her."

He heard the other man sigh and even though he knew what the answer would be he took a bit of comfort in at least knowing that Heero felt bad about it, "It's going to have to wait. You'll see her in 24 hours."

Zechs was about to object, but Noin interrupted him, "Heero, how is she? Is . . . is she alright?"

"She's fine, she's looking forward to see all of you." There was a pause as though Heero was considering how best to word his next sentence, "I know that she's your sister, and you have some things to . . . I think it might be easier on her to see everyone there."

Noin nodded, "Yes, yes of course, we'll get all of them up here for tomorrow."

Heero grunted an affirmative sound on the other end, "Alright, I'd better be going. We'll see you tomorrow."

"Heero," Zechs blurted out, a little louder than he had meant to and found himself at a loss for what he had intended to say. "thank you."

There was a mumbled sentiment of welcome from the other side and the line went dead.

Zechs took a moment to collect himself; for three years he had believed his baby sister to be dead only to discover that she was in fact still alive and well. He'd had several months to prepare for this but that the moment was here . . .

"Zechs?" He turned around at the sound of his wife's voice; her eyes were brimming with tears but she was smiling. He closed the distance between them in one smooth motion, drawing her into a tight embrace, "Zechs, she's back."

He nodded into her into her hair, "We'd better get everything ready."

- - - - -

Catherine Bloom awoke at the sound of the door to her room opening. She hated that the doctors and hospital staff could just come and go as they please, but she really shouldn't be complaining. After all, she had been given a private room in the Sanq Kingdom's best cancer treatment facility with round the clock care, and some of the best doctors on the planet. They assured her that she was doing very well and very close to being in remission. She sighed inwardly at the whimsical thought of when her hair would finally start to grow back in.

There were two pairs of footsteps making their way towards her bed now, one of them pausing to turn the light on, the other moving to the foot of the bed, no doubt to look at her chart. She didn't open her eyes as the room was flooded with light, maybe if they thought that she was asleep they'd just go away. But the seconds dragged on and it seemed that would not be the case.

"Ma'am," she recognized the voice as belonging to Doctor Lameroux, "as you can see, Ms. Bloom is asleep, I'm going to have to insist that you come back at another time."

"And I'm sorry Doctor, but this simply cannot wait." Catherine felt her eyes grow wide; that was Commander Une.

Dr. Lameroux mumbled something about waking her gently and left the room. Une sat on the edge of the bed but as soon as she heard the door close Catherine rolled over, "Commander, what are you doing here?"

Une started and fell off the side of the bed in the most ungraceful manner imaginable. As the older woman righted herself, Catherine tried to suppress a giggle. "Ms. Bloom!" She stood from the floor and smoothed out her shirt, "I'm very sorry, I didn't realize that you were awake."

"It's fine," Catherine pulled herself into a sitting position, "sometimes they'll just go away if they think I'm asleep."

"Yes," Une shifted uncomfortably and perched herself on the edge of the bed once more, "Catherine, I have something that I have to tell you about."

Her heart immediately sped up, and she lurched forward to seize one of Une's hands, "Is it Trowa!? What's happened?! Is he alright?!"

Une's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before melting into an apologetic look, "No, no, Catherine. I'm sorry, nothing's happened to Trowa, he's perfectly fine."

Catherine let out a breath she didn't realize that she was even holding, "Oh," she laid back against the pillows again, trying to steady her still pounding heart, "oh, good. Thank God, you scared me."

"I'm sorry." she smiled gently, "Actually Catherine, I have something very surprising to tell you. But we'll have to discuss it in the car, I'm afraid this area isn't secure."

"The car?" she wrinkled her eyebrows, "They're letting you take me out of here?"

"Well, I had to get special permission from you doctor, but –"

"Une, what's going on? Where are you taking me?"

"To the Sanq Palace, Catherine." She stood from the bed and began open her dresser drawers, removing a few articles of clothing and setting them aside, apparently so that they could be packed, "As I said, I'll explain it on the way."

- - - - -

"Mrs. Darlian, ma'am?"

She lifted her head from her book at the sound of her name, "Yes Elise, what is it?"

The young woman stepped into the library, gently closing the door behind her, "Ma'am, you have a visitor waiting for you in the parlor."

"I wasn't aware that I would have any visitors today." she stated as she closed her book and stood gracefully from her desk.

Elise's face flushed, clearly worried that she had done something wrong, "H-he said that he was an old friend of yours ma'am, and that you'd want to see him."

If nothing else, Mrs. Darlian was curious now. "Very well, tell him that I shall be there shortly."

The girl nodded and left the room. Mrs. Darlian retuned her book to it's place on the shelf and took a moment to straighten out her clothes, glancing out the window as she did so. Off in the distance, the edges of New Port City were barely visible through the fog and mist. She sighed in spite of herself and made her way towards the door.

Relena had brought her this townhouse after the Sanq Kingdom had been reestablished. Her daughter had insisted that she have a home away from Brussels, somewhere to stay when she came to visit. After Echidna Epidemic and the war however, Relena's brother had insisted that she move to the Sanq Kingdom permanently, for her own safety. She had been reluctant to do so, but Milliardo Peacecraft was a persuasive man.

She was not unhappy in her life in the Sanq Kingdom . . . but it was a constant reminder of her daughter, like a small needle stabbing her every time she looked to New Port City.

Mrs. Darlian entered the parlor finding it silently, and upon first glance empty. It was only movement in the corner of her eye that brought her to notice the stern-looking young man seated in the chair farthest from the windows which she noticed were covered by the thick curtains that should have been pulled back to allow for sunlight. For now however, the room was draped in an eerie darkness. Despite this however, before he even lifted his eyes to meet her, she recognized him.

"Why Agent Yuy," she stepped into the room as he stood greet her, "this is a surprise, what brings you –"

But Heero breezed right past her, to shut the double doors she had just come through. When he turned around again he had a solemn, yet apprehensive look on his face, "Mrs. Darlian, I –"

Suddenly it all clicked in her mind, "You have information about Relena." The woman sighed and steadied herself against one of the end tables. This was it, after all these years . . . she had never stopped hoping that one day her daughter would be found safe, but deep down . . . and now Heero, who she knew had never really stopped looking, was here to confirm every mother's worst fears.

"Yes, ma'am." He offered her his hand and brought her to one of the many plush armchairs in the room. Despite her panicked state, she couldn't help but notice that Heero kept glancing to a corner of the room that was just out of her view. She watched as he took a deep breath, "Mrs. Darlian, I found Relena."

It was his choice of words that struck her as odd. _"He"_ found Relena. In her experience Heero should have said, "_we_" found Relena, as in his organization. "I-I don't understand, you found –"

Her words were cut off by movement from the far corner of the room. A small figure stood from the large, high-backed chair there and stepped forward. Her long, blonde hair hung gently over her shoulders cascading down the lavender shirt she wore over dark jeans. The years had changed her, but even after all this time, she knew her immediately.

"Relena . . ." Mrs. Darlian felt the air leave her chest as she slowly stood from her chair, as though in a trance.

Relena took a step forward, but in that time, Mrs. Darlian had crossed the room, thrown her arms around her daughter, and begun sobbing into her hair.

"I missed you, Mom."

- - - - -

Trowa used his hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he stepped out of the small building he and the rest of his team were currently hiding out in. He surveyed the area around him looking for some sign of Ickes. His subordinate had left over an hour ago to find some food; Trowa was relatively sure that the Preventers officer had simply gotten lost or run into a language barrier, but one could never be too careful . . .

"Trowa, sir." He whirled around at the sound of his name; Officer York was crouched over a series of laptops, GPS devices, and satellite equipment and gesturing for him to come over. Trowa knelt down next to the man, who pointed to several large dots on one of the computer screens.

"Sir, this these marks showing up on our radar, they're a large group of people traveling southward. And this one," he pointed to another group, "is another smaller one coming in from the opposite direction. By my best guess they're going to pass through this town sir."

Trowa nodded, "Do we know what they are?"

"Sir, they seem to be traveling in a convoy of heavily armed vehicles and supply trucks. It's probably Leon's Army Forces." He pointed to another screen, "I pulled this up from our Intelligence Department back in Brussels. It's a map of known travel routes that Ajani, Leon's Army, and Oprichniki forces use. According to this, these guys should be heading straight for Johannesburg from here."

"Are you suggesting that we follow them, York?"

"No sir," York stated resolutely, "I'm suggesting we go with them."

Trowa didn't react at first, taking a moment to process what York had just suggested. "Why do you think that we'll be able to embed ourselves in their troops?"

"Because," York cast him a sideways smile, "even though that smaller group is a lot farther from here than the bigger one, they're going to get here around the same time because they're traveling faster and lighter."

"So," Trowa traced the lines on the screens with his finger, "you're guess is that the two groups will arrive here at the same time. And then your plan is that when they do, we slip in with them and travel south to Johannesburg."

"Sir, honestly I don't see any other way for us to get down there without being noticed. With just the four of us, we're too small to sustain ourselves and if we travel with a bigger group we're going to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves." He punched a few commands into the computer, pulling up another series of maps. "Aside from that, if we're traveling with a bunch of Leon's Army soldiers, we may be able to pick up some information about where to start looking for Agent Bentley."

Trowa was about to answer when suddenly, the front door burst open. He and York drew their guns before Ickes even had a chance to right himself. The young man put his hands up, "W-whoa," the two men lowered their weapons, "sorry, sir."

Trowa sighed and put his weapon back in its holster, "What kept you Wickard?"

"Sir," Ickes stood at attention out of what Trowa knew was an unavoidable compulsion, "my apologies, I got caught up in a conversation with several of the locals. Sir, they informed me that a Leon's Army detachment was headed this way –"

"We know, Wickard." York responded.

Ickes looked slightly taken aback, "You do?"

"Yes," Trowa responded simply, "and we're going with them."

- - - - -

The lights were beginning to come on across New Port City. Relena shuddered inwardly as she leaned back against the window frame. This afternoon had been emotionally exhausting . . . she wasn't sure that she could do all this again tomorrow. The little voice that she supposed was her conscious, however screamed that she only brought this upon herself.

She started slightly as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist, before relaxing into Heero's embrace. "How are you doing?"

"I'm feeling better . . . getting myself ready for tomorrow anyway."

Heero tightened his arms around her and shifted so that they were both sitting on the window ledge, "I'm sorry for not springing that on you."

"No," she leaned back and rested her head on his shoulder, "you were right to bring me there first." She suddenly felt her eyes well up again, and fought back a sob, "She's my mother, she raised me and I let her think that . . ."

Relena disintegrated into tears for what had to be at least the sixth time that day. Heero sighed to himself and turned her around so that she was crying into his chest. He had known that this would be a trying couple of days for her, he had known how hard she would take it and how guilty she would feel . . . for now however, the best he could do would be to hope that her friends and family would go easy on her tomorrow.

"Heero?"

"Hm?" he looked down at Relena who was back to gazing out the window of their hotel room.

Relena took a shallow breath, "I-I don't think that I ever thanked you." She tilted her head up to meet his eyes, "For coming for me after all these years, that is."

He was slightly taken a back by her words, and found himself unsure of how to respond. Instead he drew her back into his embrace and gently stroked her hair, "For years I was convinced that you were dead. Not because I actually thought it . . . but because it's what I was told . . . and I had no way to prove otherwise. It just became what I told myself so that . . ."

"So that you could move on with your life." she finished for him. "I don't see how you could have not thought it, especially after Leon's Army was claiming that they killed me."

Heero closed his eyes, "But I never stopped thinking about you. Even once I'd convinced myself that I'd never see you again . . . there wasn't a day that I didn't think about you."

They sat in silence, watching the city lights slowly come on under the ever darkening sky. It was only the emerging light from the moon that brought Heero out of his daze. "We'd better get some sleep," he stood from the windowsill and lifted Relena to her feet, "we have a very early morning tomorrow."

She nodded in reply and began rifling through her bag for her pajamas. Heero watched her for a moment before stripping down to his boxers, folding the discarded clothes neatly and packing them back into his bag. As he got to his feet again, a pair of small arms came to rest on his arms. He allowed himself to be turned around so that Relena could wrap her arms around his neck. Before he even had a chance to return the gesture she had pulled his head down to her own, bringing him into a gentle kiss.

Heero pulled her against his chest, deepening their kiss as he did so. He could feel tears running down her cheeks again and broke away from her to wipe them off. Relena drew in a shuddered breath and rested her forehead against his. "Every morning when I woke up, and every night before I fell asleep . . . everyday for all these years, my first and last thought was you."

He didn't respond, opting instead to cover her mouth with his again. She responded eagerly and he in turn lifted her off the floor to carry her the few feet to the bed, setting her down on it, before settling himself on top of her.

Relena sighed as Heero trailed kisses along her jaw finally come to rest on her neck. Tomorrow would be an emotionally trying day to say the least, but for now she pushed those thoughts out of her mind and allowed herself to enjoy the embrace of the man she knew would stay by her side whatever should come her way.

- - - - -

Duo rubbed his eyes as he pushed open the door from the room that he and Hilde had slept in last night. Well, they didn't sleep there so much as they had stayed there. He, Hilde, Wufei, Sally, Anthony, and Cordell had arrived in the Sanq Kingdom late yesterday. They had all been escorted directly to the palace where for what Duo had assumed was a Yalta meeting. However, it wasn't just Une, Zechs, Noin, Quatre, and Dorothy waiting there for them, Mari and Catherine were present too.

It was Zechs that finally broke the news to them: Heero had found Relena and the two of them would be arriving at the palace first thing tomorrow morning.

It had been an anxious and tense night in the place, with all present dealing with the tension in different ways. Catherine looked to be in a state of shock, no doubt stunned from the information that had been dropped on her. Sally and Noin tried to keep up pleasant conversation, but ultimately found themselves failing. Zechs had retired to his room almost immediately after dinner, while Anthony and Cordell, clearly feeling as though they were intruding, attempted to maintain a low profile. It was Dorothy that finally snapped first, standing from her seat in the library and declaring that she and Quatre would be staying elsewhere for the evening and would be back tomorrow morning for Relena's arrival.

Duo had to admit that he sympathized with her; he couldn't sit still himself, and finally around 11:00 Hilde had dragged him to the room they would be staying in. The both lay silently in the bed all night, but neither of them slept. Now, as the sun was beginning to come up, Duo found himself regretting that.

They had no way of knowing exactly when Heero and Relena would be arriving, so Zechs had insisted that they all be gathered in the library at the crack of dawn. Duo, thought that having around a dozen people sitting in the same room, waiting for them to arrive was probably not the best way to avoid a tense situation, but kept the notion to himself.

"Duo, are you coming?"

He looked ahead of him where Hilde was waiting impatiently for him to close the door and join her. It was obvious that she hadn't slept last night either, but seemed to be running on nervous energy. He nodded to his fiancé, and jogged to catch up with her.

When they arrived at the library, they found Zechs, Noin, Une, Mari, Sally, Wufei, and Catherine already there, most of them with cups of coffee or tea in their hands. Duo surveyed the room and scratched his head, "Where are the other four?"

"Quatre and Dorothy still haven't arrived," Une answered, "and Edward and Agent Gord did not wish to intrude so they thought it best if they waited elsewhere."

Duo nodded and walked over to the cart the kitchen staff had apparently brought in to get himself a cup of coffee, "So no word from them yet?" He was answered with silence and shrugged in reply as he took a seat next to Hilde on one of the many sofas in the room.

The minutes dragged on in complete silence. Duo had lost track of how long they had been sitting there. He reminded himself that the sun had just complete risen so it could have been that long . . . but it felt like hours. He had no idea what set him off, suddenly he just couldn't take it any more and abruptly stood from his seat, "I'll be right back."

Hilde looked at him suspiciously, "Where are you going?"

"Just to the bathroom," he lied, "I'll be right back." And with that scuttled out of the door.

He had no idea why, but he just couldn't sit still, the atmosphere in that room was stifling and he just had to get out and stretch his legs. As he walked through the labyrinth of hallways in the Peacecraft's private wing, Duo couldn't help but feel bad for Relena. If he was feeling suffocated in that room, he couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like for her.

- - - - -

The palace grounds stretched out before them as Heero helped Relena out of their car. Heero had left their bags at the hotel, telling her that they'd send someone for them later. They had gone through security at the front gate under their assumed names, which to Relena's surprise were on the visitor's list for that day.

As the entered the palace, she couldn't help but think how quiet it was. Granted the sun was barely up, but she still couldn't help but wonder if much of the staff had been sent away on her brother's orders. She was not concerned about being recognized. This was no different from the dozens of other times she had hidden herself among the general population in plain sight. She had learned quickly that no one would find her because quite simply, they were not looking for her.

The clicking of her heals on the marble floors echoed off the walls and she and Heero made their way through the main chamber and towards the Peacecraft family's private wing. She had no idea what she would find when they reached the library, but had been preparing herself for every possible outcome since they left the hotel that morning. She had expected to be in a panic by now, but instead found herself simply numb, too overwhelmed with the reality of what was about to happen to process any real thoughts or feelings.

Heero stopped as they came to the doors of the palace's private wing, "Are you ready?"

Relena gave a short laugh, "Does it matter?" She stepped forward and pushed one of the massive doors open, the guards that would normally do so being conspicuously absent. The cathedral-style hallway inside was bright as the sun shone down through the many stained glass windows that lined the walls. Just as she was about to start off in the direction of the library, Heero took her hand and gave it a gentle a squeeze.

"It will be alright, I promise."

She nodded in reply and they started down the hallway towards the library. The air around seemed to be thickened with anticipation and she could feel her heart pounding to the point that she was sure Heero could hear it too. They rounded one last corner, the library door now in sight at the end of the hall. Relena took and deep breath and prepared walk the last hundred feet or so where her family was –

"Princess?"

Her eyes grew wide as she and Heero both spun around in the direction of the voice, but even before she laid eyes on its own, she knew who she would find there.

Duo stood not twenty feet from them, having apparently come from the other direction and going towards the library as well. He stood completely still with an expression on his face best described as a mix of relief and disbelief. Relena gave him a small, and nervous smile as she turned to face him completely. "Hi, Duo."

His face suddenly split into a grin; he emitted a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a cry and flew at, closing the distance between them faster than she would have though possible. Before she knew it he had swept her off the ground and was spinning her around as he hugged her.

Just as she was starting to feel dizzy he set her down and stepped back, while still holding her hands. The braided man let out a long sigh, as he looked her up and down, laughing through the tears that were collecting at the edges of his eyes as he did. "You . . . you're . . ." He gave up and drew her into another bear hug. Relena couldn't help but smile even as Duo was crushing her ribs.

He set her down again and turned to Heero, extending his hand which the Japanese man took only to be pulled into a half hug himself, "Glad to see you back, buddy. We were starting to get worried."

Heero nodded, "I'll explain later." He glanced toward the library door, "Are they all in there?"

Duo scratched the back of his head in his usual nervous manner, "Yeah, yeah everyone's waiting . . . I just, you know, needed some air . . ." He must have noticed the pained expression on Relena's face because he broke into another smile, "No, no, I mean . . . well, you know me! Can't sit still for five minutes! Hilde keeps telling me she's gonna start slipping Ritalin into my food. But hey!" He stepped back and gestured toward the door, "You should get in there, because they're all waiting for you!"

Relena mustered a smile and turned back toward the door, only to be stopped by Duo once more as she was pulled into another hug. "It's good to have you back, Princess." He planted a kiss on her cheek before guiding her back to their destination.

Relena couldn't help but feel grateful that Duo was there with them, she wasn't sure she would have had the strength to open the door herself. He went in first, Heero behind him, and her last. As soon as the door opened, a shout came from someone who could only be Hilde, "Duo, where they hell have you –"

But her voice died on her lips as Heero stepped through the door behind him, and Zechs stood from his seat, "Yuy, where's –"

Silence enveloped the room as Heero moved aside, revealing Relena. She looked across the sea of faces registering every emotion possible; happiness, shock, disbelief, tears, acceptance, and awe were splayed across their faces. Relena stood there for what seemed like hours, waiting for one of them to do something, _anything_, but none of them moved. Finally in a blur of white and black, her brother crossed the room and swept her into his arms.

She couldn't help it, the tears she had been fighting since she woke up that morning burst forth. She tried to stay as quiet as possible, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. It was only the sound of voices from outside the door the broke their embrace.

"We're not late Quatre, it's not even 7:00 yet," the door opened again and Dorothy entered followed by a sleepy looking Quatre, "there's no way that –" The blonde woman's words died on her lips as her eyes came to rest on the woman standing not ten feet from her. Behind her, Quatre came to a dead stop and let out a tiny gasp. Dorothy, took a step towards Relena as though unsure as to whether or not what she was seeing was real. Relena in turn stepped away from her brother to face the two people who had just entered the room.

No one saw it coming, certainly not Relena who made no effort whatsoever to evade Dorothy's hand which connected painfully with the side of her face. A moment of stunned silence fell over the room as the slapping sound resonated off the marble floors and through the vast halls . . . it was fleeting moment however.

Dorothy suddenly lunged forward, drawing herself up to full height and closing the distance between her and a stunned Relena. "You bitch!!"

She seized Relena by the shoulders and shook her forcefully. In a room full of people who would normally intercede at such an action, none dared to interfere, instead forced to watch as the blonde woman continued screaming. "You bitch!! How could you do something like this?! How could you have just leave like that?!"

Dorothy shook the shorter woman again, her voice growing more desperate and wild sounding, "And then you just show up here again and expect us to act like nothing happened?!" She shook her again, drawing them closer together, Dorothy's voice broke and her eyes began to tear as she continued to yell, "How do you expect us to act like nothing happened?! Like you were here the whole time?!"

Relena watched through her own blurring eyes as Dorothy's face started to crumble, her emotion getting the better of her, "You left and you let us think that you were dead!! And – and - " Her voice caught in her throat and she suddenly fell forward into Relena's shoulder, the smaller woman doing her best to catch her friend as Dorothy threw her arms around her neck and began sobbing uncontrollably.

Relena's shock was only pushed back by the renewed wave of sadness that washed over her. She lifted her blurry eyes to the spot where Quatre still stood rooted to the ground. As soon as their eyes made contact however, the blonde man lurched forward throwing his arms around the other two women, emitting only a tiny sob as he drew them both closer.

Time seemed to slow, and no one present could say for sure when it started again, but Dorothy suddenly stepped back from Relena, taking Quatre with her. She wiped the corner of her eye with hand, her face suddenly hardening into a cold stare. Dorothy opened her mouth to speak and Quatre began to move to stop her, but both of them were cut off by Relena, simply lifting her head to meet their eyes.

She again found herself unable to speak, her throat feeling as though it had completely closed up. Her eyes began to water again but she maintained her composure, unsure if she could physically handle another breakdown. Dorothy was still glaring at her, beside her, Quatre had his hand on his girlfriend's arm, a confused and pained expression on his face. The emotions that had been tearing at her since she had entered the palace roared to life with renewed force and again she found herself unable to meet her friend's gazes.

Relena allowed her eyes to drop and her head to fall to her chest, but surprisingly, her voice had returned to her. "I'm sorry." she stated simply.

The words caught Dorothy off guard, though she wasn't sure what she had expected to hear instead. Quatre, on the other hand, reached out and took one of Relena's hands, but before he could speak she lifted her head and stepped back from him, turning so that she could see all of her friends, who were staring at her with rapt attention.

She took a deep breath, "I'm sorry for the pain I caused all of you." Her voice faltered and she took a moment to compose herself before continuing, "Y-you're more than just my friends, you're my family . . . and I betrayed your trust." Her eyes began to sting with tears again, but she kept her voice even as she continued talking, "I'm not sorry for what I've done, for leaving, because I know that it was the right thing to do . . . to protect all of you . . . I hope that one day you can forgive me . . ."

Heero closed his eyes and sighed to himself, he couldn't say whether this was going badly or not but felt compelled to break the tense silence that covered the room. Fortunately for him, however, his best friend could always be counted on in such situations.

"Aw come on, Princess," Duo stood from where he had been leaning against the wall and walked over to where Relena was now crying softly again, punching her playfully in the shoulder once he reached her, "who in this room hasn't faked their own death or disappeared without telling anyone once or twice?"

Relena lifted her head to meet Duo's violet eyes through her own bloodshot ones. He grinned at her before drawing her into a tight hug, Relena gasped but didn't resist, "We're just glad to have you back."

The room suddenly roared to life, and became a blur of tears, smiles, and hugs. Relena tried her best to maintain her composure as she was passed from friend to friend and into bone crushing embraces. Zechs was a step behind her at every moment, even when Une, in a most uncharacteristic display, threw her arms around Relena. Sally, Hilde, and Catherine, got her as a group and refused to let go until Duo insisted that it was his turn again.

The commotion slowly disintegrated giving Relena the chance to scan the room for the one person who hadn't come to greet her yet. She found Wufei still seated in his chair; they locked eyes for only a moment, just enough to time to silently acknowledge that they would catch up later.

It was late in the morning when the library doors opened again, and two men Relena knew only as people who worked with Heero and the other entered.

"Relena," Une, stood to introduce them, "this is Agent Anthony Gord, and Dr. Edward Cordell. They are both on the Yalta Task Force with us."

Both men stepped forward to shake her hand, Cordell looking slightly in awe of her as he did so. Anthony for her part smiled at her, "So my whole theory about the alien abduction turned out to be way off huh?"

Relena laughed in spite of herself, and looked to where her brother and sister-in-law where they were listening to Duo give a very animated retelling of one of his recent missions. Sally, Catherine and Hilde were questioning Mari, about her boyfriend, while Une talked to Anthony Gord and Edward Cordell a few feet away. Dorothy and Quatre were off to the side of the room where she was interrogating Heero as to his prolonged absence. She couldn't find Wufei anywhere, but finally noticed one of the glass doors leading to the private court yard had been left slightly ajar.

Stepping out into the sunlight, she quickly found the Chinese man, perched on a bench next to the pond, feeding parts of a muffin to the ducks. He lifted his head at the sound of her approach, giving her a slight smile and rising from his seat to hug her.

They separated quickly and she took a seat next to him on the bench, snatching a bit of his muffin and breaking off a piece to throw to the ducks that swam in front of them.

Neither of them spoke for several minutes until Wufei finally broke the silence, "I suppose I owe you an apology." He turned to meet her eyes and she was surprised to see a genuinely pained expression on his face, "I'm sorry that I failed to keep your secret and let you be discovered."

In spite of herself she patted his knee, "You deserve a medal for managing this long." Relena sighed and leaned back on her hands, "It wasn't supposed to go for this long . . . we didn't plan for this."

Wufei laughed a bit a shook his head, "No, we certainly didn't."

"I'm glad though." Her words seemed to catch him off balance, "I'm glad that they found out. I'm not sure how much longer I could have gone on like that . . . letting everyone believe that I was dead."

He nodded in comprehension and leaned back to gaze out across the pond again.

Relena let out a breath she didn't realize that she holding as she readied herself for what she was about to say, "Wufei," she waited until he looked back towards her, "Ling was killed."

Shock and sadness quietly flashed through his eyes, but as quickly as it had appeared it went, "What happened?"

"She, Heero, Thomas and Ryan Connelly were found by the Oprichniki when they were crossing the Indian Ocean by boat. They shot her when she wouldn't tell them who the other Keiji members on board were." Relena felt her eyes begin to sting with tears again.

Wufei only nodded in reply, before asking, "You couldn't bury her then?"

Relena wiped a tear from her eye and shook her head, "We added her name to the shrine in Shitou. The monks came and performed a ceremony for her."

He nodded in quiet acceptance, "She was an honorable woman."

"She was the best of us." Relena added in agreement.

"Hey guys, she's out here!"

Relena and Wufei spun around towards the voice that had interrupted the quiet, quickly discovering that it belonged to Catherine. She smiled and stepped out into the courtyard, waving to the others inside the room.

Heero threw a glance over his shoulder to where Catherine was signaling for them to come join her. He shrugged and followed Dorothy and Quatre into the courtyard with the others.

Hilde too stood to follow them, but was stopped by a hand on her wrist. She turned around to be met with a rare serious gaze from Duo. "Duo, what's –" He put up a hand to silence her and pulled her to the opposite side of the room, waiting until it had been completely emptied of its occupants before speaking.

"Hilde, I want to get married."

She gave him a confused look for a moment, before smiling and holding up her left hand, pointing to the glittering ring on her fourth finger, "I know, you proposed to me, remember?"

"Yeah, I do." He ran a hand through his bangs, "But, it's been like two years, and we still haven't actually gotten married."

"Well Duo," she fumbled with her words, "It's not as though we've been able to –"

"Let's do it tonight."

"What?" she unconsciously stepped back from him.

"Tonight," he repeated, "let's get married tonight."

Hilde shook her head in disbelief, "Duo, wha –"

"Babe, look," he turned her around to look out the glass doors and into the courtyard where their friends stood around the pond, talking and laughing, "everyone's here, all the important people in our lives are here right now . . . and . . . well who knows with the world the way it is, what could happen and . . ." he took her hands and pulled her closer, "I love you and I want to marry you and I want to do it tonight . . . with all of our friends here."

Hilde couldn't help but stare at him for a moment, but before Duo could open his mouth to offer more words of encouragement, her face broke out into a grin, "Okay."

"Okay?" he returned the smile.

"Yeah," she nodded enthusiastically, "let's do, it let's get married tonight!"

Duo let out a victorious yell and swept her up into a kiss, setting her down only so he could drag her towards the door and into the courtyard. He burst through the door, a giggling Hilde in his wake, drawing the attention of all gathered there. Duo came to a dead stop and spread his arms out in a very grand manner.

"Alright everyone, I have an announcement to make." He pulled Hilde to his side, "We're getting married tonight, and we want all of you to come!"

The courtyard fell into silence for a moment before Relena stood from her bench and laughed, "Way to steal my thunder you two!" And with that she rushed forward to hug her best friend. The courtyard erupted into cheers, congratulations, and a flurry of questions.

"Well you'll have the wedding here!" Noin declared, "We'll have the palace grounds by the cliff set up."

"Oh Noin," Hilde gushed in spite of herself, "really? That would be wonderful."

The older woman smiled and turned to her husband, "Zechs, we'll have to start getting everything arranged right away."

He nodded numbly, "Yes – yes of course. We'll need to find someone to officiate the wedding, I can ask the Arch-Bishop –"

"Milliardo, he's in Stockholm for the week, remember?" Noin interjected.

"Well, I'm sure we could find someone –"

"I could do it." Anthony lifted his head and raised his hand from the bench he was sprawled out on. Duo, Hilde, Noin, Zechs, Relena and Heero gaped at him; Anthony just laughed in return and sat himself up to face the group, "I mean, if it's alright with both of you that is."

Duo gave his friend a confused look, "You have a secret life or something you never told us about, Tony?"

Anthony laughed again, "No, I had a double major in university, my second degree was in Religious Studies and I got ordained as a minister before I went undercover."

All present could only stare in silence; it was finally Noin that broke it, "Why?"

Anthony shrugged, "I don't know, seemed like a good idea." He stood from his seat and swung his arms behind himself as he walked over to join the group, "It actually came in handy a few times over the years."

Duo could only scratch his head in reply, "Weren't you undercover on the Lunar Settlements with a bunch of anarchists, man?"

"Well yeah," Anthony scratched the back of his head as he spoke, "but some of them still wanted to get married occasionally."

The courtyard was again blanketed in silence until Duo and Hilde simultaneously broke down into laughter. Anthony looked slightly taken aback but managed to keep his expression blank and passive. Finally, Duo stumbled forward and put a hand on Anthony's shoulder, taking a moment to compose himself before lifting his head to meet his friend's gaze, "Tony, man, we'd love it if you'd marry us tonight."

The air was suddenly filled with a very high pitched squealing sound coming from the direction of Noin, Relena, Sally, and Cathy who had seized Hilde and were dragging her out of the courtyard and back into the library.

"Come on, Dorothy and Une and get going!"

"We should bring Mari with us too!"

Hilde looked back and forth between her friends, "Going where?"

Sally stopped dead in her tracks, "Well we've got to get you a dress!"

Noin was already digging in her purse for her cell phone, "I'm going to call the boutique that did my dress and tell them we're coming and to clear the store!"

"Lucrezia," Relena tapped her sister-in-law's shoulder, "can you have the palace florist meet us there as well?"

"Oh, and the chef too!" Cathy added.

Hilde took a step back, "I think the guys can handle that part."

"Oh of course," Noin seized her by the wrist and started toward the door again, the entire group following, but yelled back to her husband as they went, "Milliardo, dear I'm putting you in charge of making sure dinner is arranged, so don't screw it up!"

"And make sure they get the full bar set up too!" Sally added.

Heero, Duo, Anthony, and Zechs watched them go, too stunned by the flurry of activity they had just witnessed to move. It was only Wufei and Quatre's coming to join them a moment later that brought them out of their stupor.

Wufei shook his head as he joined the group, "What was that about?" He gestured in the direction the girls had just left in.

"Duo and Hilde are getting married tonight." Heero answered as if this were an everyday occurrence.

Both men gasped, Wufei in disbelief and Quatre in delight, "Why that's fantastic! Congratulations Duo!"

The braided man grinned and clapped his two friends on the shoulder, "Yup, so we've got a lot to do, and only about six hours to do it in!" He glanced down at his watch, "First stop: Tuxedoes!" He turned the other two men around and started marching them out the door.

Wufei looked back with a confused expression, "Wait, what are the other stops?"

"My bachelor party of course!" Duo grinned and continued on to the door, "You didn't think I was going to let you guys out of that one, did ya?"

"Maxwell, it's 11:00 in the morning, I'm not taking you to a strip club!"

"So if it wasn't 11:00 in the morning you would?"

"I didn't say that!"

- - - - -

The palace grounds, in Noin's opinion, had never looked more beautiful. Flower covered arches formed a large oval with a raised platform at the far end, just a twenty or so feet back from the cliff that overlooked the city. A large, rectangular table had been set up in the middle, with strings of lights zigzagging overhead between the arches.

As the sun began to set over the water, a string quartet began the wedding march, and Hilde made her way to where Duo was already waiting with Anthony and Heero. Relena followed Hilde, holding up the train of her dress as she crossed the grass and to the short length of silk fabric that had been laid down as a path to the altar. Une, Mari, Zechs, Noin, Cordell, Sally, Wufei, Quatre, Dorothy, and Catherine sat on either side of the aisle. The music was brought to a gentle close as Hilde reached the end and handed her bouquet to Relena, who stepped off to the side.

Anthony motioned for everyone to be seated, before beginning. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here this evening to witness the joining of Duo Maxwell and Hilde Schbeiker in marriage . . ."

Below them the sea crashed and roared, but the sounds went unnoticed by those present. Relena watched from her place as Anthony spoke of Hilde and Duo's love and devotion to one another, as Hilde blushed, and Duo grinned sheepishly at her. She smiled to herself and looked out across the ocean, more grateful than ever that Heero had come to find her. Anthony's voice suddenly brought her out of her daze.

"Do you, Hilde, take this man to by thy wedded husband, to have and to hold? Love, honor, comfort, and keep in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others keep thee only unto him for as long as you both shall live?"

Hilde couldn't help the blush that spread over her face, "I do."

"And do you, Duo, take this woman to be thy wedded wife, to have and to hold? Love, honor, comfort, and keep, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all other keep thee only unto her for as long as you both shall live?"

Duo responded without a missing a beat, "I do."

Anthony gave them a rare smile, "Do you have the rings?"

A look of panic crossed Duo's face for a moment, before Heero tapped his arm and handed him the small black box Duo had given him earlier, (and apparently forgotten about). Heero watched as his best friend slid the gold band on the love his life's finger. He watched Hilde giggle a little as she copied him, her white dress swaying in the sea breeze.

. . . And for one fleeting moment it was Relena wearing that white dress, and it was him standing where Duo did now . . .

"Then, by the power vested in me, I know pronounce you man and wife." Anthony turned to Duo, his small smile now a huge grin, "You may kiss the bride."

Before Duo even had the chance, Hilde threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a long kiss. Not to be outdone, Duo wrapped his arms around the petite girl's frame, lifting her off the ground and swinging her once, never breaking their connection as their friends stood from their seats and cheered.

It was well into the early hours of the morning before the party began to wind down. Quatre, never one for being able to hold his liquor, had began to fall asleep against the back of his chair. Sally and Une however were still seated at the bar. On the dance floor, Duo and Hilde continued to twirl around each other, much to the chagrin of Zechs and Noin, and Anthony and Relena who had to step out of their way to avoid being hit.

It was Catherine that finally announced her intentions to retire to the palace. As she gathered her things, Dorothy stood up as well, "Hang on Cathy," she pulled one of Quatre's arms over her shoulder, and gestured for Catherine to take the other one, "you can help me with Mr. Tolerance here." The two women laughed and bid the company a good night as they set off toward their rooms.

Just as they disappeared from sight, Duo and Hilde stopped dancing and turned to their friends present, "Well," Duo pretended to yawn and stretched out his arms, "looks like it's getting to be about that time." With a wicked grin he ducked down and swung a giggling Hilde over his shoulder. "So thank you to all of you for being here!" He reached out to the table and picked up one of the still full champagne glasses and held it up as if to toast them, "But if you'll excuse us, me and the Mrs. have some things to take care of." With that he threw back the champagne and started in the direction of the palace.

"Maxwell!" Duo stopped and spun in Une's direction as the drunken Commander stood from her bar stool and lifted her glass as if to salute him with it, "I'm giving you the next week off, pick somewhere to take that lady and get the hell out of here for a while!"

Duo threw back his head and laughed, shouting a thank you and heading off toward the palace. Une for her part swayed where she stood as she lost her battle with gravity. Sally jumped to catch her, only to begin to topple over herself. It was Wufei that came to their rescue, helping the two women to their feet and yelling over to Cordell and Anthony, "A little help here?"

Cordell threw one of Une's arms over his shoulder and Anthony went to collect the sleeping Mari from where she'd fallen asleep on the grass. The party trapped it's way down the hill leaving only Heero, Relena, Zechs, and Noin in their wake.

Relena smiled as she watched them go and looked around, "Well, I guess we'd better be heading back as well."

"Actually," her brother stepped forward and took her hand, "if you're feeling up to it, I was hoping we could talk a bit."

She nodded in a surprised way, "Here?"

Zechs shrugged, "We can take a walk, if you don't mind."

Relena nodded again and turned back toward Heero and Noin, "We'll just be a few minutes."

Heero grunted and Noin smiled at them, "Take all the time you need, we'll wait here."

- - - - -

The watched as the two disappeared into the night before returning back to their seats. Noin, however was on her feet again, almost immediately.

"Well," Noin turned in Heero's direction as she began walking back towards the now abandoned bar, "looks like it's just you and me Yuy." She smiled as she disappeared from sight behind the bar, "What do you say we find a way to pass the time while we wait for the return of the Peacecraft siblings?"

A hand clutching a bottle of dark, amber liquid suddenly reappeared, followed quickly by Noin. Heero lifted his eyebrows in amused curiosity and moved to join Noin, taking a seat at one of the bar stools and picking up the bottle she had left on the bar.

"This is scotch." he stated simply looking back and forth between the bottle and the glasses she was now removing from their rack and holding out to him.

Noin shrugged and rounded the bar to take a seat next to him, "Yeah, and?"

Heero turned the bottle over in his hand, "This is really good scotch."

"Yes I know," she swayed a bit where she was sitting, "I'm the one who picked out the bottle."

"You're not supposed to do shots of scotch." but even as he spoke the words he was taking the small glasses from her hands, setting them on the table, and opening the bottle, "You're certainly not supposed to do shots of thirty-year-old scotch."

Noin reached over and took one of the now brimming glasses, holding it up to him as if to toast, "Then here's to waste."

Heero regarded her curiously for a moment, unsure of what "waste" exactly she was talking about, but raised his glass to click hers and threw back the shot.

No sooner had he set it back down on the bar than Noin was filling it, a goofy smile on her face, "Goes down smooth huh?"

He only nodded in reply, watching Noin as she set the bottle down on the bar, and lifted her glass, smiling in a sweet way that he never would have imagined that she could, "You know Heero, for all the years we've known each other, and all we have in common, I don't think we've ever really spent any time together."

Heero was slightly taken aback by the comment, but recovered quickly, "Well . . . we've been busy . . ."

"Oh boy, haven't we!" Noin raised her glass to him and drained it in a matter of seconds, waiting for him to do the same, "But see, we should be around each other more, we have a lot in common after all."

He swallowed the amber liquid quickly, having a feeling that he was going to need it, "How do you figure?"

"Well," Noin set about refilling their glasses again, "you and I are probably the only two people who have to put up with the Peacecraft siblings the way we do . . ."

- - - - -

To Relena's great surprise the silence was not uncomfortable. She and her brother walked for a good five minutes before he finally spoke.

"I understand why it is that you left."

"Milliardo, I –"

"And I also understand why you didn't tell any of us."

Relena drew in a sharp breath, "I wanted to . . . I just . . ."

"You couldn't." he finished for her. He stopped as they reached the large weeping willow tree that was perched on the edge of the cliff, "I understand . . ."

Before she even realized what she was doing, Relena threw her arms around her brother, "I missed you so much, Milliardo." He returned the embrace as she continued talking, "There were so many times that I felt so lost, wondering if what I was doing was the right thing to do . . . and, and I knew it was because I knew that it's what you would have done to protect me."

- - - - -

"And here's to Relena for her triumphant return!"

Heero lifted his head, which was already feeling a little heavy, from the bar and held out his glass to clank against Noin's but stopped, "Screw Relena, here's to Zechs for not killing her after all this."

Noin sputtered in an attempt to keep herself from laughing, but failed miserably, "Fine, then here's to the Peacecraft children!"

Heero shrugged and threw back the shot without missing a beat, Noin right behind him. She was already refilling it again, though this time much more slowly. "So as I was saying Heero, most people wouldn't ever think this . . . but dealing with those two can be a huge pain in the ass. I think you and I are the only ones who know . . . who know that." She slurred her words as she spoke.

The Japanese man nodded, vaguely thinking that he'd lost count of how many shots this was now, but pushed the thought out of his mind, "Frankly, you have my sympathies. I'd rather deal with Relena than Zechs any day. At least she can be reasoned with."

Noin laughed and punched his arm in a manner that she no doubt believed to be playful; Heero however knew he'd be sporting a rather large bruise their come morning. "He's not that bad!" She giggled again for a moment and leaned in close to Heero's face, lowering her voice to a girlish whisper, "You just have to know what to use to keep him in line."

Heero jerked his head back as he realized what Noin was insinuating while the other woman broke down into a fit of giggles, "Oh come on Heero, I need some leverage over him!"

- - - - -

"I've spent all these months trying to wrap my head around what you did." Zechs looked to where Relena was now sitting on the grass beside him, "Part of me still can't believe that it's happened . . ."

She let out a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a snort, "_I_ can hardly believe that it's happened." Relena tilted her head to meet her brother's eyes, "I never meant for it to go this far."

"I know." He sighed and leaned back on his hands, "I don't mean this to be insulting, but I never would have believed that you had it in you to pull off something like this."

"I've learned that you don't know what you're capable of until those you love are in danger." Relena shifted so that she was hugging her legs to her, "I did what I did to protect you, to protect all of you. And if I had to do it all over again, I would."

- - - - -

Noin let her head roll to the side, "A-and here's . . . here's what I want to know. What the hell's with all the names?"

Heero lifted his eyes to where Noin was staring at him waiting for a response, not being able to come up with one he simply shrugged. She threw her head back and laughed, "They've both got like forty different names. 'Milliardo Peacecraft', 'Zechs Marquise', 'The Lightening Count' . . ."

"'Relena Darlian', 'Relena Peacecraft', 'Relena Darlian-Peacecraft'," Heero continued for her, catching on, "'Vice-Foreign Minister', 'Foreign Minister' . . . I guess those aren't really names though . . ."

But Noin didn't seem to hear him, "And then there are all the codes names! 'Preventer Wind', 'Argonaut' –"

"'Olive Branch', 'Okimi', 'Kimi' –"

"Th-those are kind of the same one, Heero." Noin interrupted and was then struck by a thought. "Oh, yeah and don't forget 'Paris'."

"Paris?"

"Its, its her new Y-yalta codename or something . . ."

- - - - -

"So what happens now?"

Relena lifted her head in a curious way, "What do you mean?"

"Well," Zechs stood up and offered her his hand, lifting the petite girl to her feet, "what are you going to do now?"

His sister sighed and let her shoulders fall, "I'm still one of the leaders of Keiji, Milliardo . . . I have to go back."

He nodded at her words, "Une is hoping that you can help us." He put a hand on her shoulder, "I know that there's nothing we can do to stop you from returning to Keiji, but will you at least hear what she and Cordell have to say?"

"Of course I will."

They started back towards the party grounds in silence, but Zechs had one last thing on his mind, "Relena, I know that the work you do is very dangerous. I – I just hope that –"

She smiled gentle at him and put a hand on his arm, "I'm well looked after, Milliardo. And I promise that I don't take any unnecessary risks."

"It's the necessary ones that I'm concerned about." He put an arm around her shoulder, "Just promise me that you'll keep yourself safe. For me."

"I promise . . . for you."

- - - - -

"Soooo, Heero?"

"Huh?" he answered thickly. He and Noin were now both sprawled out on the grass in front of the bar.

"Well . . . if I'm not prying . . . what are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?"

Noin rolled over on her side and poked him in the arm, "Don't play dumb, wi-with me . . . what are you going to do now? . . . With Relena?"

Before he could stop himself, Heero blurted out, "I'm never letting her out of my sight again."

Noin laughed a bit and flopped back onto her back, "But she's going to go back to Keiji right?"

Heero sighed, Relena was indeed going to go back to Keiji and the question as to what he would do when she did had been weighing on his mind. Maybe it was the alcohol, but suddenly the rather complex answer seemed so clear and simple. "I don't know exactly what her plans are . . . but I know that no matter what, I'm not leaving her."

Noin hoisted herself into a sitting position, "That's good . . . you two are really good for each other . . . you shouldn't let her go."

Then without warning, Noin broke down into sobs. Heero startled himself into a sitting position, unsure of what to do. He gingerly put a hand on her shoulder, "Noin? Are – are you alright?"

She suddenly lifted a tear-stained face to meet his eyes, "Heero, I want to have a baby." Heero felt his eyes go wide, but Noin either didn't notice or ignored him, "I want to have a baby . . . bu-but . . . I can't do it without my husband, and" she broke down into renewed sobs, and had to take a moment to compose herself.

"How can I ask him to bring a child into this world with me in the middle of a war?"

Heero tried to look sympathetic, but this really wasn't his strong suit. "I – I think that's something that you should talk to Zechs –"

"But –"

"Noin, he's your husband. This is something important to you. He should listen."

To Heero's amazement, Noin's face broke into a small smile, "You know . . . you're right. I just . . . I just feel selfish that's all." Noin laughed and let herself fall back on the grass again, "How absurd is that? Selfish for wanting to have a baby?"

Heero followed suit and collapsed onto the grass as well, as Noin continued to talk, "It looks like we both have things that we have to discuss with our – Hey, Heero, what are you and Relena now anyway?"

- - - - -

Relena and Zechs made their way through the now vacant gardens . . . only they shouldn't have been completely vacant. It took a moment of searching before they were able to locate the two people they had left there.

"Oh wow . . ." The Peacecraft siblings stopped to survey the scene before them . . . it probably could have been declared a national disaster site, but there were only two evident causalities. Heero and Noin were sprawled out on the grass, an empty bottle of scotch on the ground next to them.

Zechs nudged his wife with his foot and to his amazement, she stirred, opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Oh you're back." She made a movement as though she were going to try and stand up, but instead tapped Heero's shoulder, "Hey Heero, wake up, they're back.

Heero opened his eyes and stared curiously at the pair standing over him, "Hn, so he didn't push her off the cliff after all."

Noin broke down into a fit of giggles, extending an arm for Zechs to help her up. Her husband however, instead opted to bend down and lift her off the ground. He looked down to where Heero was, "Yuy, can you walk back?"

Heero grunted something that sounded like a yes, and lifted himself into a sitting position. Zechs merely rolled his eyes and began carrying his wife back to the palace, while she insisted that they had something they had to talk about.

Relena smiled at Heero and offered him her hand, which he accepted to pull himself to his feet. He stumbled a bit as he tried to walk, and finally had to drape an arm over Relena's shoulders to steady himself as they walked back.

It was slow going, but they finally made it back the palace's private wing, Heero having been mumbling incoherently the whole way. Relena struggled to open the door to her bedroom as Heero had suddenly become very uncooperative. He tried to brush her arm away from him, but Relena wasn't convinced he could stand on his own. Heero, however had other ideas.

"Re-Relena," he brought up one hand to try and turn her face towards him slurring his words as he spoke, 'list-sten I have to tell you about some-something."

She sighed as she finally managed to push the door open, and heaved Heero against her once again, "You can tell me once we get inside, Heero."

A sound came from him that seemed as though he was about to protest, but instead he opted to sit down on the floor, pulling Relena down with him and placing his hands on either side of her face so that she was forced to look straight at him. "Relena, I'm not going to leave you ever again."

"Heero –"

"And," he cut her off, "and I don't want you to leave me either." He removed his hands from her face and took her own in them, a serious and sad look suddenly washing over him, "I don't want us to be apart anymore."

They stayed locked in each other's gaze for a moment before Relena silently nodded. Heero seemed to consider this an acceptable answer and tried to get to his feet again, only to stumble right into the bed, which he promptly collapsed onto.

Relena laughed in spite of herself, and turned to go to the bathroom to get Heero a glass of water. But as she did, she stopped dead, suddenly realizing where she had brought both of them. She had instinctually come to her old bedroom and taken a very intoxicated Heero with her without even a second thought.

A flood of emotions suddenly washed over her and for what felt like the hundredth time that day, her eyes began to sting with tears. She didn't know how long she had stood there, before Heero's arms wrapped themselves around her small frame, and he bent down to whisper in her ear.

"Come to bed, Relena. I'll be here with you."

- - - - -

A sharp knock on the door, brought Kristen out of whatever thoughts she had just been having, "What is it?"

The door opened and Ivan peaked his head around the corner in an almost child-like manner. Once he saw that she was just sitting at her desk, he opened the door the rest of the way and entered. "I'm sorry to disturb you ma'am."

"It's fine, Ivan. Now what do you need?"

"Mrs. Philby, ma'am," stood in front of her desk and presented her with a thick folder of papers, "we've finalized the operation plans. It will be executed in 25 days."

Kristen nodded and flipped open the folder, "And you're sure of all this information?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Do the other four know about this yet?"

He shook his head, "No, I thought that you would want to see this first."

"Alright, thank you Commander." She stood from behind her desk and walked to the window. "I'm counting on you Ivan. In 25 days, we need to have that girl."

"Yes, ma'am." Ivan responded, however he did not leave.

"Was there something else, Commander?"

It could have been her imagination, but he looked a bit surprised by something, as though he thought that she was not going to believe what he was about to tell her. "Well, ma'am . . . yes, th-there is something else that I thought you might find to be of interest . . ."


	19. We All Fall Down

Alright, Chapter 19, here we go. Sorry for taking so long to finish with this one, it turned out to be A LOT longer than I originally planned it to be. Additionally, I'm sorry about the wordiness and number of descriptions and such that this chapter is riddled with, but there is a lot of stuff going on here now. That being said, this chapter and the next one are really important as far as the plot of the rest of the story is concerned, so hopefully they come across okay.

Thank you so much to everyone who has been reviewing! I promise that I'll get the next chapter finished as quickly as possible, (so please don't hate me!). Thank you again for your continuous support, it really really helps. Anyway, enough of my ranting, enjoy!

Occam's Razor

Chapter 19 – We All Fall Down

Tynan

- - - - -

The Oprichniki agent lowered his binoculars from his eyes but continued to watch her, his target, this girl. She walked through the streets of the Sanq Kingdom without a care in the world, as though she belonged there . . .

He shook his head and reminded himself that the world believed her to be long dead, but even knowing that he could scarcely believe that no one recognized her. He could remember back to the time when she was at the height of her power; he had been sure hers would be a face the world would never forget.

The man with her paused and panic gripped the Oprichniki agent for a moment as he turned and looked to where he was hiding, perched on one of the city's many rooftops. The time slowed down for what seemed like hours but after a minute the girl turned to her escort, no doubt asking him what he was looking at. They talked for a moment and he threw one more glance to the roof before continuing on their way.

He sighed in relief. The man that was with his target was in plain clothes, but there was no doubt in his mind that he was a Preventers Agent. He had read the meager file the Oprichniki had been able to put together for him, the information was scant, but somewhat disturbing. What little they did know about him indicated that he was one of Une's inside men and one of her most skilled agents. Stealth operations seemed to be a specialty of his but his greatest asset seemed to be his incredible degree of intelligence. Yes, this man was intellectually gifted beyond anything they could have guessed of a Preventers Agent.

He lifted his binoculars and looked the Preventer over again. There didn't seem to be much to him, average height, average build, a bit on the skinny side if anything . . . then again, the first thing he had learned in covert ops training was to never misjudge an opponent by their appearance. Une had apparently seen fit to trust this man with his target's safety, in fact for the month or so he'd been following her he could count on one hand the number of occasions he'd seen her out in public without the Preventer.

The Oprichniki agent shook his head and made a mental note to go over this man's file again once he arrived back at his safe house. Something about this guy just didn't sit right with him . . . .maybe it was the fact that they were waiting for the one day they knew for certain he would not be with her to launch their kidnap operation. For however smart, however formidable this person was, he was still only just one man . . . and the Oprichniki agent had a difficult time understanding what the absence, (or presence for that matter) of this one man would change when they executed their kidnap operation.

For now however, he stood and gathered his equipment. He'd jump a few rooftops down to the edge of the street and see which direction they went. With any luck it would be towards one of his teammates and he wouldn't have to try and get ahead of them again. They only had ten days left, only ten days to keep track of this girl.

Ten days before it happened.

- - - - -

Relena closed her eyes and enjoyed one last moment of the hot water cascading over her body before reaching out to turn the shower nozzles off. She had to admit, that being back in Brussels had some advantages, long, hot showers were one of them. Bathing was done mostly in semi-public bath in Shitou, something that had taken her a while to get used to. But in her opinion a bath with the girls was better than the alterative which was to use one of the few showers in the underground headquarters complex. With those showers hot water was never a guarantee and there was no saying how long one would have in there anyway.

Wrapping a towel around herself, Relena opened the bathroom door that led into Heero's bedroom and came face to face with the one occupant of the house that was not thrilled with her presence.

Hitomi was lying on the floor a few feet in front of the door, her large blue eyes watching Relena with both curiosity and suspicion. Relena sighed and bent down to scratch the dog's ears, it could have been her imagination, but she swore that Hitomi was trying to look like she wasn't enjoying it. Relena stepped around her and went to the dresser that Heero had cleared some space out of for her clothes; Hitomi shifted behind her on the floor so that she could continue to watch her.

Relena laughed a bit under her breath; it was obvious to anyone who saw the two of them that Hitomi considered Relena to be intruding on her property . . . specifically Heero. Heero himself had been somewhat surprised by his dog's reaction to her presence, but Relena new exactly how she felt. For over three years now, Hitomi had been the only girl in Heero's life, then after months of absence he finally comes home, but brings some bimbo hussy with him. It was logical that even a dog would feel somewhat replaced. All in all, they were getting used to each other . . . but that didn't stop Hitomi from keeping a constant watch on her when she was in the house.

Relena finished dressing and wrapped the towel around her wet head. She still had a bit of time to kill before Une showed up with Quatre, Dorothy, and Dr. Cordell, leaving her to wonder what she was going to do with it. She had only left the house once since she and Heero had come from the Sanq Kingdom, and was beginning to feel more than a little stir-crazy. It wasn't Heero's fault, after all, he'd been gone for more than eight months, he had to get back into work, and it really wasn't safe for her to go wondering the streets, nor was it a good idea to have a strange woman coming to and leaving the house constantly on the off chance that they were being watched.

She rubbed the towel against her head a bit as she walked down the townhouse's stairs. It wasn't as though she were really bored. Despite the lack of personal possessions, the one thing that Heero did have a lot of was books. Granted many of them were engineering manuals and other things she couldn't have read if she wanted to, but he also had a nice sized collection of historical and classic literary works. Aside from reading, she had plenty of TV to catch up on. Overall, it was nice to have some time to relax. Her friends would stop by frequently as well, often for dinner or during lunch. Then with Hilde and Duo still away on their honeymoon, that left just her and Heero at night . . .

Relena shook her head as she walked into the kitchen. This life seemed unfamiliar and surreal, as though she were playing house with a childhood friend. Maybe years ago, she could have imagined her life something like this . . . maybe even with Heero. But she had given up any possibility of such a life and truth be told, she wasn't sure that she would even want it any more. She didn't belong to this life now, she had another one waiting for her back in the jungles of China . . . one that did not include Heero.

She felt her eyes begin to sting with tears. She was leaving in two days to go back to Shitou, leaving without Heero. She tried to push the thought from her mind, but then scolder herself for doing so. They'd had almost a week and a half together and still had not discussed where they stood . . . and she knew that a large part of this was her fault. Heero was trying, trying to do what she couldn't say exactly, but he was trying nonetheless . . . which was more than she was doing.

It wasn't that she was didn't want to have a conversation with him about . . . well _them_, it was that she was knew what she would have to tell him. She was Kimi of Shitou, she was needed by Keiji, her life was with them now . . . but her heart was with Heero. He knew that she was going to leave again, but somehow it seemed that actually saying it to him would make it real. And so she had been avoiding it, irrationally hoping that if she ignored it, maybe it would go away.

Relena opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water before making her way into the living room and plopping herself down on the sofa. She surveyed the room as Hitomi trotted down the stairs and settled herself at Relena's feet. Duo's influence on the house was easily apparent. The kitchen pantry was stocked with junk foods that Relena knew for a fact Heero seriously believed would kill him if ingested. A massive, wide screen plasma TV was mounted to the wall in the living room, flanked on either side by a vast collection of movies. The furniture had a very homey feel to it, one that Relena was sure Hilde had a hand in. There weren't really any pictures in the room, with the exception of one frame with a very familiar picture in, the same one that she kept with her at all times . . . though hers was in far worse shape than this one. Relena picked up the frame and studied the picture within it. It had been almost years since the picture had been taken at the ESUN ball, two days before she would disappear . . . and so much had changed since.

There was a noise at the front of the house and Relena's head snapped up; Heero wasn't supposed to be home for another few hours, and Une wasn't getting here until 1:00.

"Hello?"

Relena let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding and jumped from her seat, just as Hitomi bolted in the direction of the front door, Relena right on her heels. "Hilde! You're back!"

The dark-haired woman finished dragging her bag through the door before rushing forward to embrace her best friend. "How was your honeymoon?!"

Hilde sighed and laughed at the same time, "Oh it was phenomenal! We went all over the Caribbean, you got our postcards?"

Relena nodded and pointed into the kitchen where she had tacked them onto the refrigerator. "You two sure got around." She glanced out the door behind her friend, "Where's Duo?"

"Oh," Hilde ushered Relena down the hallway, dragging her bag with her, "we took separate cabs back from the airport because he wanted to go into work for a bit."

"How very dedicated of him."

But Hilde wasn't listening, she was rooting around for something in her massive bag. When she stood up again she was holding jewelry box and a small leather pouch. "Happy Birthday!"

Relena blinked for a moment, before her eyes widened in realization, "It's my birthday!"

Hilde looked shocked for a moment, "Don't tell me that you forgot!"

Relena blushed and took the items from her friend, "I guess I've just had other things on my mind."

"Hmm," Hilde leaned closer to her with a devilish smile on her face, "like a certain former Gundam pilot?"

"Hilde!" Relena gasped in overdramatic shock, "I swear that it was just that one time with Duo, it meant nothing to either of us!" Two could play this game.

To Relena's delight, Hilde's eyes actually widened for a moment before she caught onto the joke and playfully slapped Relena's arm, "It's good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor, Rel." She sat down on the couch and leaned back into the soft cushions, "But come on, what is going on with you and Heero?"

Relena took a seat next to her and shrugged, "If only I knew." She felt her eyes begin to sting with tears again, "I have to leave again in two days, so it doesn't matter anyway."

"Of course it matters!" Relena started at Hilde's sudden outburst but her friend didn't stop, "Relena do you have any idea what happened to Heero after you left?! He literally lost his mind! He had to be institutionalized for week!"

Relena's eyes widened at this information, but she hardly had time to process it as Hilde continued yelling, "I know the reasons why you left, but you have no idea what it did to Heero!" She stopped at the sight of the shocked and heartbreaking expression on Relena's face and took a deep breath calming herself down.

Hilde shifted so that she was facing Relena on the sofa who now had tears running down her face. "Relena, Heero cares about you so much, you were his whole life for all those years even though I don't think he realized it. I know that this time he knows that you're alive and that you're safe . . . but I don't want to see him go through that again . . . I don't know if he can take it.

"And," she wiped some of the tears off Relena's face with her hand, "I don't want to think about you and know how torn up you are about him either. You guys can't leave things like this again. It's not fair to either of you."

Relena sniffed and nodded, "You're right . . . I – I just don't know what to do . . ."

"Talk to him." Hilde smiled softly, "I know that can be like having a conversation with a brick wall, but you two need to talk about this."

Relena nodded again and a few moments of silence passed between the two women before Hilde suddenly took hold of Relena's hands and lifted them in front of her, a big smile on her face, "Well, are you going to open your presents?!"

The Keiji operative smiled, and pulled the bow open on the jewelry box and lifted the lid. Inside was a silver necklace with a pendent of a seven pointed star, each point had a small, glossy stone of a different color at the end of, making the entire piece sparkle.

"It's coral." Hilde stated, "Seven of different kinds that are found around the Caribbean."

Relena lifted the necklace out if its box and held it up to the light, "Thank you, Hilde," she undid the clasp and slipped it around her neck, "I promise I'll never take off."

Hilde suddenly lurched forward and pulled her friend into a tight hug, she could feel her throat getting tight but promised herself that she would not cry, "I missed you so much, Lena."

Relena choked back a sob, "I know, I missed you too."

They stayed like that for several minutes until Relena's curiosity finally got the better of her, "Hey Hilde?"

"Yeah?"

"So . . . what's in the pouch?"

"Oh, umm . . . I'll just let you read the instructions that came with it."

- - - - -

Heero looked up from his desk at the sound of someone knocking on his office door. He sighed and shook his head to himself, even after arriving back at work only a week ago after being gone for well over eight months it felt like he had never left.

"Come in." he answered without even looking up from his computer screen and the door flung open.

"Hey buddy!"

Heero felt his eyes widen slightly and lifted his head a little faster than he had meant to, knocking it against the edge of the computer screen as he went, eliciting a burst of laughter from his visitor. "Hello, Duo."

The braided man straighten himself up from his doubled over position, a bit of the coffee he was holding sloshing on to the floor in the process, and smiled at his friend, "What? You were expecting someone else?"

Heero leaned back in his chair, "I didn't realize you were back."

"Just got in about an hour ago, I wanted to swing by the office and pick up a few things." Duo crossed the room and plopped himself down in one of the chairs opposite the desk.

"Well that explains the way you're dressed." Heero couldn't help but smirk at Duo's indignant expression; he was wearing a pair of well worn khaki shorts with an excessive number of pockets, secured with a tattered draw string at the top, red flip flops, a large, floppy, bright blue fisherman's hat, and possibly the loudest Hawaiian shirt Heero had ever seen.

"I'll have you know that this look happens to be all the rage in the Caribbean." Duo retorted with a hint of ire in his voice, but he smiled nonetheless as he heaved the bag he was carrying onto his lap and began to root through it. "Besides, if you're not nice to me, I won't give you the present I got for you in Haiti."

Heero smiled a bit in spite of himself and waited for Duo to remove his hand from the rucksack. When he finally did he was holding a small leather bag, secured with a rough looking piece of string. Heero regarded it curiously for a moment before gingerly picking it up and turning it over in his hand, it seemed to be filled with some kind of powder. "What is it?"

"Well, it's a love potion!" Duo answered as though this should have been obvious to Heero. The braided man laughed at the expression on his friend's face, "Hey don't worry, Hilde got some for Relena too, so if you're too afraid you use it, I'm sure she won't be."

Heero continued to stare at the bag he was holding, the implications of the gift slowly setting in, "You got me a love potion?"

Duo laughed again, "Well, it's just the powder actually, so you'll have to slip it into her drink or something. The voodoo witch we got it from said it should start working like right away, so just make sure you're the first person she sees after she drinks it, or something like that." Duo looked back to his friend with a huge grin on his face but it slowly fell away as he watched Heero's somber expression. "Hey, Heero man, it was just a joke. I didn't mean anything by it – "

"It's fine, Duo. I know you were kidding." Heero set the little bag down on his desk and closed his laptop.

Duo watched him, suddenly picking up on the fact that he'd really struck a nerve. Sighing to himself, Duo sat up in his chair and slowly leaned across to rest his arms on the desk and in the most sincere voice he could muster posed the question that he knew no one else would dare to, "Heero, what's going on with you two now?"

To his complete and total surprise, Heero did not automatically respond "Nothing", he did not stand from his seat and leave the room, he did not even cast Duo the slightest of glares; he simply took a deep breath, sank back into his chair, and answered "I don't know."

For a moment, the only thought to cross Duo's mind was that this was the most human thing he had ever seen his best friend do. Coming back to himself, Duo stood from his seat and walked to the side of the desk, leaning back against it facing away from Heero, and desperately racking his brain for some words of comfort to offer. "Well, I mean, it's only been like a month since you guys, you know, reunited and all." He sighed and took a sip of his coffee. "You probably need some time to, well straighten things out . . . and like . . ."

He set the coffee cup down on the table and stood up, still facing away from Heero and suddenly feeling slightly worked up, "I mean, it's been almost four years! You shouldn't blame yourself if things are awkward between you two! She's the one that left! She needs to earn your trust back!" He quieted himself before continuing, "Okay, yeah now that we know what happened, I can't blame her for what she did . . . but, neither of you should expect to just have everything be all hunkey-dorey again, you've . . . kind of, I don't know, decide what you want to do . . ." he raked his hand through his bangs.

Duo trailed off as he craned his neck to glance over to where Heero was sitting, fully expecting the other man to be completely ignoring him, but instead found the Japanese man staring at him with an expression on his face that would suggest he was very, very confused. Duo looked nervously around the room for second, wondering what it was that seemed to be mystifying Heero. Finding nothing out of place, Duo turned back to Heero and shrugged, as he took another sip of his coffee, "What?"

"Duo, Relena and I have been sleeping together for almost a month now."

It he had to, Duo could not recount the exact sensations that suddenly washed over him, apart from the fact that he began choking on his coffee and then spilled what was left in the cup across Heero's desk in his efforts to save himself.

Heero for his part watched with mild concern as Duo put a hand of the edge of the desk for support and doubled over in a coughing fit. After a few very dramatic moments, the braided man righted himself and looked to where Heero was sitting, and expression of confusion, annoyance, and desperation on his face. "Why didn't you tell me this?!"

Heero gave him a look as if to ask whether or not that was a serious question, only annoying Duo further, and bringing him to lean over the still dripping desk, "Oh come on! My best friend finally gets together with the long lost love of his life, like out of one of those crappy movies, and doesn't even bother to tell me?!"

"You're right," Heero responded as he tried to wipe up some of the coffee, "I should have mentioned something in the speech at your wedding."

Duo couldn't help but laugh in spite of himself, "Fair enough." He sat back down in the chair opposite the desk, "I'm just glad that you two are working things out –"

"I said we were sleeping together, Duo. I didn't say that we were together." Heero stared off into space as he spoke. It could have been his imagination but he sounded . . . sad.

"What do you mean you're not together?" Heero still would not meet his eyes, "I don't get it. You care about her, she cares about you . . . what's holding you back here?"

"It's not me, Duo." Heero finally lifted his gaze to meet Duo's, "It's her."

He tried to take this in for a moment, but to he surprise, Heero kept talking, "She's been so . . . sometimes she seems like . . . " he paused and ran his hand through his hair in a frustrated manner, "like she wants to be with me . . . and then she's all of a sudden . . ."

"Cold?" Duo offered.

"Distant." Heero finished. He shook his head again and let his eyes fall to where his feet were, "I told her that I didn't want us to be apart anymore, I told her that I wouldn't leave her . . ."

Duo shifted uncomfortably, ". . . And what did she say?"

"She . . . she didn't really say anything." Heero sank back into his chair, "And I don't think I should say it again . . ."

At those words Duo sat straight up in his chair, "Why not?"

Heero looked confused for a moment, "What?"

"Why wouldn't you tell her again?"

The Japanese man seemed at a loss at his friend's sudden outburst, but before he even had a chance to respond, Duo was on his feet, both hands on the desk and leaning over it so that his face was only a foot and a half from Heero's, "Why would you just let that go?"

"Duo . . ." Heero tried to quietly interrupt his friend, but Duo would have no such thing.

"No, listen to me. Heero, I don't want to see you do this to yourself again!" Duo sighed, and took a step back, trying to calm himself down, "Look, you've cared about Relena for God knows how long now, and you wouldn't admit it to yourself and so you didn't do anything about, and then she disappeared and you were left with a lot of unresolved issues and feelings. This time, you know that she leaving, and I'm sorry, but as you're best friend, I'm not going to let you screw things up for yourself again.

"Did you ever think that maybe the reason she's being so hot and cold with you is because she's trying to work this out herself and is scared about what's going to happen when she has to leave you again?!" He hit the edge of the desk for emphasis, "You have to man-up and do something about this! You can't just let her go and leave things between you like this."

Heero didn't say anything at first. Finally he stood from his seat and began packing his laptop into his bag along with a few other files. "You're right." Duo felt his eyes go wide, but tried to hide the surprise he felt as Heero walked around the desk and stopped beside him, "So hope that what I'm about to do is the right thing."

The braided man rose from his seat to follow his friend out of the office, "Where are you going?"

"I have a meeting with Une." Heero pulled the door to his office closed behind them, but paused to turn to Duo, "What time will you and Hilde be back tonight?"

Duo wrinkled his eyebrows and shrugged, "Well, Hilde went straight back to the house from the airport, and I shouldn't be too late tonight. Why?"

"I'm having some people over tonight, I just want to make sure that you'll be there."

Duo felt he had had about as many surprises from Heero as he could take, "_You're_ having a party?"

Heero rolled his eyes as if to ask if Duo was really that clueless, "Today's April 7th, it's her birthday." He watched as Duo's eye's widened in realization, "And besides that, she's leaving in two days, I thought that she'd want to see everyone together again."

Duo grinned, "Well then, I'll stop and pick up a cake on my way back to the house."

Heero nodded in thanks and turned to make his way towards the elevators. Glancing down at his watch, he realized that despite Duo's visit, he was actually going to be a bit early, hopefully Une wouldn't be mad . . . not that it really mattered at this point . . .

In his mind he knew that he was acting irrationally, he had decided on this plan before even confirming that it was possible, but in his heart he knew that he was doing what he should. He regretted what he was about to do, but Duo was right, he would be an idiot to just Relena leave like that again and if this was what it took to show her that he had meant what he said, he was more than willing to make the sacrifice.

With a ding the elevator doors opened and Heero stepped out into the 57th floor of the main building in the Preventers Agency Complex. As he started down the large empty halls towards Une's office, suddenly everything seemed so . . . significant to him. He was never really one to feel any sort nostalgia, but for some reason, he abruptly began to realize just how great a sense of belonging he felt towards his organization . . .

"Oh, Agent Yuy!"

A slight yelp was followed by a collision, and when Heero got back to his feet he found himself staring down at the surprised face of Francheska Biddle. Muttering an apology while silently scolding himself for getting lost in his thoughts, Heero offered her a hand and lifted the girl to her feet.

Francheska gave him a small smile as she straightened herself out and Heero couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt in his chest as he watched her. The young Preventers officers had been ecstatic when she had arrived to work last week and found his office door open and him sitting behind his desk. She had tried to control herself as best she could, but without warning she had crossed the room and flung her arms around his neck. Sadly, that wasn't the most awkward part of the encounter; far worse was when she finally let go of him and he realized that she was doing her best to hide the fact that she was crying. She had mumbled some questions and statements of apology at him, but then quickly left the room.

Fortunately, that had pretty much been the end of it. They had quickly fallen back into their old routine, leading Heero to pose the question: "Francheska, what are you doing up here?"

She quickly lifted her head at the sound of his voice, "Well, I took over submitting the team's weekly reports in your absence, Agent Yuy . . . .I'm sorry, I guess it just became kind of a habit."

Heero nodded, "It's fine. I'm going to a meeting a Une, have the team gathered in my office in half and hour, I'll have some things that I want to go over with them."

Francheska smiled pleasantly and nodded before continuing along her way; it couldn't be more obvious that the girl was thrilled to death to have her commanding officer back . . . and that was making this all the harder.

Nicole was ready for him as he approached Une's office and sent him right in without waiting. The Commander's office was exactly as he remembered it, neat, clean, and imposing . . . just like Une.

"Ah, Agent Yuy," Une stood from her seat and walked around her desk to greet him, "have a seat. I'm afraid we're going to have to make this quick, I've got another meeting in fifteen minutes. Can I have Nicole bring you anything?"

"Thank you, I'm fine."

Une nodded and sat back down behind her desk, "Well then, I'm glad actually that you requested to see me, as I was planning to set up a meeting with you soon. You saved me the trouble. Now, what can I do for you?"

Heero took a deep breath and drew one of the many file folders from his bag, and placed it on the desk opposite Une. She immediately picked it up and began to open it, but he wanted to explain before she actually read it, "Commander, this is my letter of resignation."

Une came to a dead stop. After a very tense moment, she set the file down without even opening it and calmly looked to Heero, "I see."

Heero sighed in spite of himself. He had never been one to feel that he had to explain his actions, but his Commander certainly warranted an exception, "Commander, I've seen a lot of fighting in my life, I've worked for a lot of different people, been allied with a lot of organizations . . . but my years as a Preventer have been the only ones that I truly felt I belonged, that I felt a sense of loyalty to the organization."

He ran a hand through his hair, it becoming more obvious with every passing second just how important being a Preventer had become in his life, "I hope that one day I can return to Preventers but for now . . . my place is with Relena."

Une looked confused for a moment, but quickly arranged her face back into its usual calm expression, "You're going back with her?"

Heero nodded, "That's the plan."

"Hmm." Une stood from her seat and walked to the massive window behind her desk. Just as Heero was beginning to question whether or not she wanted him to leave, she spoke again, "Well Agent Yuy, I am truly sorry to hear that. I reason that I had wanted to meet with you was to offer you a new assignment."

"I'm sor –"

"You see," she cut him off "with the recent reemergence of a certain Keiji operative, whom we believed to be dead, I wanted to assign someone to keep tabs on this individual, make sure that they remain safe, and can be located by Preventers if need be." Une turned around to face Heero, "Seeing that you have a great deal of past experience dealing in such matters as well as a personal relationship with said individual, I thought that you would be the best man for the job." She smiled at him slyly, "If I could convince you to stay on that is."

Heero took a minute to process what he was hearing before nodding, the edges of his mouth curving up the tiniest bit, "I'd be honored to accept the assignment, Commander."

"Excellent!" She picked up the folder and handed it back to him, "Well then, I won't be needing this. Now," Une took her briefcase out from under her desk and slung it over her shoulder, "if you'll excuse me, Malta, Quebec, Moscow, and myself all have a meeting with Paris, so I'll need to get going."

"Hn." Heero stood from his seat and collected his things, "Commander, it's Paris's birthday today . . . I'm –"

"I already know about the party, Heero. Agent Maxwell called me just before you got here, I'd be delighted to attend. As for your new assignment, we'll meet again tomorrow and get some things in order."

"Yes, ma'am." Heero nodded and walked towards the door, pausing a moment before he exited, "Commander, thank you . . . for . . ."

"Gratitude was never really one of your strong points, Yuy." She lifted her eyes to meet her subordinate's, "But you're welcome."

- - - - -

Trowa closed his eyes and listened to the noises that filled the night air. The Leon's Army divisions had arrived two days ago and they were preparing to depart the next morning. He and his men had already infiltrated one of the unit's companies and he had learned that it would take them approximately two weeks to reach Johannesburg from their current position.

He was well aware of the risk he was taking; if discovered he, Ickes, York, and Lancaster would most likely be shot on the spot, no questions asked. Regardless, this was their mission, these were chances they had to take.

If Elizabeth was still alive, it was their duty to find her and bring her back.

- - - - -

There was a knock at the door and even though Relena knew who it was she let Hilde answer it just to be on the safe side. The door opened and Une's voice resonated through the house as several pairs of footsteps made their way back to the living room. Relena stood from her seat to greet her Une, Quatre, Dorothy, and Dr. Cordell.

The four of them settled into the living room and Hilde volunteered to go make tea. Une set a large briefcase down on the coffee table and turned to Relena, "Well Miss Peacecraft, I'll get right down to business. Dr. Cordell, Miss Catalonia, Mr. Winner and I are here to discuss what your future political plans are."

Relena nodded, she had been expecting something like this, "Well considering that most of the world believes me to be dead, I don't really have any."

Dorothy laughed a bit, "I told you she'd say that."

"Uh, Miss Peacecraft, if I may," Cordell leaned forward in his chair, "what we are trying to ascertain is . . . well, once the war is over . . . we, we wish to know . . ."

"He wants know if you plan to announce to the world that you're still alive, Miss Relena." Dorothy finished for him in a short tone.

Cordell began polishing his glasses as was his nervous habit and Dorothy gave a soft laugh, "I must admit, Miss Relena, that I've never seen him so worked up." She craned her head to where the professor was now turning a delicate shade of pink, "But then you could always have that affect on men, couldn't you."

Relena favored her friend with a small smile, "I have no idea what you mean, Dorothy."

"Miss Catalonia, please stop making Dr. Cordell uncomfortable, it's hindering our meeting." Une muttered, "And Dr. Cordell I realize that Miss Peacecraft is a highly significant political figure, but please compose yourself."

"Yes, fine." Dorothy purred, "Ruin all of my fun." She turned toward Relena, "But we are still waiting on an answer from you, Miss Relena."

To the surprise of all present, Relena simply shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know what you want me to tell you." At that moment, Hilde reentered the room carrying a tray of tea cups and set it down on the table. Relena immediately busied herself with preparing a cup, "I can't guarantee you anything at this point. I can't assure you that I will be willing and available to play any sort of an active role in politics once the war is over assuming that it's over in our favor." She took a sip of her tea, and then set the glass down on the table, "I can't even promise that I'll be alive when it's over." her voice was soft and thoughtful sounding as she spoke.

Her last words caused a gasp to emit from Quatre, "Miss Relena, please you mustn't think such things."

"No," Une cut him off, "Miss Peacecraft is correct, we can't go forward assuming and planning that she, or any of us will be available in the future." Une lifted her own cup of tea and took a sip, "However, we just wanted to inquire as to what, if any plans you had made regarding what you will do after the war."

Relena smiled sadly, "I'm sorry, but I cannot offer you any insight there." She took another sip of tea, "I don't know myself."

"I understand." Une responded and set her glass back down on the table, "Then we have only one other matter to discuss with you." She opened the briefcase she had brought and removed several thick folders. "What I'm about to show you is highly classified. Mr. Winner, Miss. Catalonia and Miss Sh –" she paused and glanced up at Hilde, "Well I suppose it's Mrs. Maxwell now, isn't it?"

Hilde's eyes widened and a blush crept onto her face, but in spite of that she smiled, "Yes, yes I guess it is."

"Well regardless, the three of them have been working tirelessly to learn as much as they can about a machine that Josef is –"

"SARIELS." Relena stated simply.

Une could only gape at her, "Excuse me?"

"This." Relena held up the folder, "The machine that Josef is building, it's called SARIELS."

"I take it that Keiji is aware of its existence then?" Quatre smiled coyly and leaned back in his seat.

Relena didn't answer right away, instead she glanced at the faces of those around her, finally coming to rest on Une. "Commander, may I have a word with you please?"

Une stood from her seat without a word and followed Relena into the kitchen where the younger woman was beginning to pace the floor. "Commander, I find myself conflicted." She stopped and lifted her head to meet Une's gaze, "You see, I'm not a member of ESUN anymore, I'm a member of Keiji and my primary allegiance is to them."

"Yes, I understand that." Une took a step closer, "Relena, what do you kno –"

"I'm debating, Commander Une how much I should divulge to you regarding Keiji's efforts against Josef's machine."

"So you are planning to get rid of it."

Relena shook her head and took a deep breath, "Commander I have both information and a proposal for you. I will confirm only that Keiji does indeed have a plan in the works to destroy SARIELS . . . regarding that I can only add that it would be in both of organization's best interests if Preventers and L-10 began preparing to invade Africa."

"Invade . . ." the words died on her lips, "Relena, you can't be serious."

"I am." she answered sternly, "Commander, my proposal is this: I'm leaving to go back to Keiji in two days, I want to ask that you allow me to take Wufei back with me. I will explain everything to him along the way and send him back to Brussels with the information you will eventually need."

"You'll trust Agent Chang with this?" She sounded skeptical, "You do realize that he is a Preventer."

"But he is also a member of Keiji," Relena added, "and my chosen contact within Preventers, and my confidant." She lifted her head and Une could see in her eyes just how much she was struggling with this decision. "While I would like for both of our organizations to work towards bringing down Josef in accord with each other, my responsibility is first and foremost to Keiji, just as yours is to Preventers. My proposal is the only conditions under which I will divulge any of the intelligence Keiji has to you."

Une paused, contemplating the options laid out before her. On principle, she didn't like being given ultimatums, but as Relena had said, it was really more of a proposal. "Alright, I'll arrange to have Agent Chang accompany you back to your village."

Relena smiled a bit, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, "And I will make sure that he receives all the information Preventers will need when the time comes." She wasn't sure exactly how much she'd have to fill Wufei in on seeing as Preventers already knew about SARIELS, however she did have an ulterior motive. Wufei would become Keiji's failsafe – should something happen and they could not use the virus they had been constructing to destroy SARIELS, at least there would be another person out there with the knowledge and means to.

"Well then," Une stood from where she was leaning against the counter, "if it's alright with you and Hilde, the four of us will just remain here and wait for the festivities to begin."

Relena wrinkled her eyebrows, "Festivities?"

"Oh," Une had a curious look on her face, "my apologies, I assumed that you knew. Heero is apparently throwing an impromptu birthday party for you here tonight. I believe that he thought you'd want to see everyone again before you left."

Relena couldn't help but grin, pleasantly surprised by Heero's thoughtfulness. The pleasant surprises only continued as the day wore on and her friends began showing up at the house, even her brother and Lucrezia who had secretly brought Mari as a surprise for Une.

The evening wore into the night and the hours flew by all too quickly for Relena. Quatre and Dorothy were the first to finally leave, Dorothy threatening Relena with death should she allow herself to get killed, while Quatre settled for a hug and a promise to stay safe and see each other soon. Wufei and Sally were right behind them; Sally tearfully bid Relena good-bye but still managed to jokingly ask her to look after Wufei on their trip.

Milliardo, Lucrezia, Une, and Mari all left a short time after with Cordell in tow. Her brother and sister-in-law were going straight back to the Sanq Kingdom that night, and so they would not see her again before she left. Her farewell with Milliardo was heart wrenching to say the least. He draped an arm over her shoulder and told her very sincerely how proud he was of her. Relena could no longer keep back her tears, she threw her arms around his neck and cried, for how long she couldn't say. It was only Lucrezia's appearance that interrupted them; her sister-in-law drew her into a tight embrace and promised that they'd see each other again soon.

Relena watched her only family members walk out to their rental car and tried to calm herself. Only when Mari placed a gentle hand on her arm, did Relena tear her gaze away from Milliardo's disappearing taillights. The small girl smiled at her in a way no one else had hugged her briefly before joining her mother at their car. Cordell finally appeared from the house and after a few muddle comments shook Relena's hand and added that he hoped to see her again soon then practically ran down the front stairs and to his car. Relena watched them go and Mari waved one last time as her mother pulled out of the driveway and into the night. Relena returned the gesture and closed the front door, but before she could even turn around a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist and drew her against a warm body.

"Are you alright?" Heero's voice was somehow soothing to her.

She nodded, sniffling a bit as she did so, "I'm fine, I just . . . I'm going to miss everyone."

Heero turned her around in his arms and cupped her face with one hand, tilting it back to look at him, "You'll see them again." Before she could say anything in reply he drew her closer and kissed her forehead, "Come on, let's get some sleep."

Relena allowed Heero to lead her up the stairs to his bedroom. She brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas then took a seat on his bed while she waited for him to finish his nightly ritual. Relena closed her eyes and prepared herself for what she was about to do . . . it was now or never.

"Heero," Relena lifted her head to where he was getting undressed, "I'm leaving to go back to Shitou the after tomorrow."

Heero nodded and came to sit next to her on the bed, "I know."

Relena suddenly reached out and took his hands, turning her body so that she was facing him as best she could. All of the emotions that she had been suppressing were now bubbling up to the surface, she was beginning to find it hard to speak, but taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself, she managed to find the world she should have said years ago. "And I understand that your life is here and that things have changed in all the time I've been gone but . . ." she locked gazes with him, "but this time I'm asking you to come with me."

At first Heero did not react and Relena felt her heart fall into her stomach. Just as she was about to pull her hands away from his, he spoke, "I resigned my position today."

"You what?" Relena tried to keep the shock out of her voice but was met with limited success.

"Well," Heero looked to the floor beside them, "I tried to resign today, but Une asked me to take an assignment that I couldn't refuse."

"Oh," the surprise she had felt quickly turned into unexpected disappointment, "well that's –"

"I'm coming with you to Shitou, Relena."

Her head jolted up, a look of disbelief on her face, "Really?" Her voice was as though she didn't dare believe it to be true.

Heero nodded, "I was reassigned to follow Shitou's Kimi and make sure that she's not in any danger."

He had barely finished the sentence what Relena literally threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and crushing her mouth into his. Heero shifted and pulled her into his lap, tightening his arms around her and deepening their kiss. He tangled his fingers in her hair and allowed himself to breath the airy and sweet scent that was distinctly hers.

Heero reached over to the nightstand and switched off the lamp throwing the room into darkness. He leaned down to kiss Relena once more before gently pulling her on top of him on the bed. There was no need to rush anything, they now had all the time in the world.

- - - - -

Elizabeth Bentley stirred from her sleep; there was a great deal of movement going on outside her cell. A large cluster of guards was making their way down the hallway, past where they believed her to be asleep, quietly discussing something among themselves.

". . . ship out in three days . . ."

". . . surveillance teams haven't reported . . ."

". . . they're sure she'll be unprotected . . ."

". . . if we actually pull this off . . ."

". . . do you know who the mark actually is . . ."

Their chatter slowly faded as they continued on, but Elizabeth was more than aware of what they were discussing. These men, they were the secondary team that was would be assisting in the kidnapping of that girl, and apparently not even they knew who she really was . . .

Elizabeth pulled herself into a sitting position so that she could look at the now tattered picture of the girl the Oprichniki were planning to kidnap and bring to Johannesburg. The poor thing had no idea . . . and no way to escape capture. Elizabeth had resigned herself to this fact long ago, but regardless of whether or not they were able to bring the girl here, she would see to it that they weren't able to keep her here.

- - - - -

Relena stopped in the middle of the trail and took a deep breath. There was just something so refreshing about the mountain air of China. On either side of where she stood, Heero and Wufei passed her, muttering under their breath.

"Have you ever seen anyone so excited about hiking over a mountain?"

"You should giver her some paperwork to do, that would really make her day."

"Hey!" Relena jogged to catch up to them, slapping both men on their arm, "Don't make fun of me for enjoying a bit of good clean air and nature after spending days locked in various cars and trains!"

Her two companions only laughed a bit and continued on their way. Relena glared at the playfully, but determined to herself that nothing could possibly ruin her good mood. They had made excellent time getting here, having left Brussels only six and a half days ago and were now on the last leg of their journey. Just over the this mountain was the bridge that would lead them across the river and into Shitou . . . she couldn't wait to see the look on Erin's face when she came back with both Heero and Wufei.

As the reached the summit of the last massive hill that separated Shitou from the outside world however, Relena couldn't help but feel something was off. The thick trees around them were usually abuzz with life, but seemed somewhat quiet today. The feeling only worsened as they continued down the hill and she was in a quiet panic by the time they reached the bottom.

Even before the bridge came into sight, Relena knew that something was wrong. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked down the slopping hill before her that led down to the bridge . . . it was covered in tire marks.

Before she even realized that she had done it, Relena found herself crouched on the ground examining the tracks, she had no experience in recognizing these sort of things but one thing she did know for sure: there were far too many of them.

"Relena?" Heero's voice brought her out of her stupor.

She got back to her feet and turned to where the two men were now staring at her with concerned expressions. "Something's wrong . . ."

"What do you mean?" Wufei's voice was laced with concern.

Relena stepped out of the trees and into the clearing, below her she could see the bridge to the village and off in the distance thin wisps of black smoke rose over the trees . . .

She opened her mouth but as the reality of the situation sank in she found she could hardly form words. Gathering what little mental strength she could, Relena gasped, "Someone's found Shitou."

Before Heero or Wufei could even react Relena jolted forward, taking off down the slopping trail towards the bridge leaving the two men to sprint after her.

"Lena!" Wufei called after her but she did not stop. She practically leaped the last part of the sloping trail and onto the bridge, not even pausing as she hit the ground. Heero was right on her heels however and just as she reached the other side of the expansive bridge his hand darted out to grab the back of her rucksack. She jerked to a stop, falling over as he suddenly eased his hold on her so as not to hurt her.

"Lena, wait!" He grabbed her arm and lifted her to her feet. Her face was wrought with panic to say the least, she was sweating and breathing heavily.

"Heero, let me go! I have to –"

"You don't know what's in there!"

"My home is in there!" She drew herself up to full height, but her voice was desperate and she was clearly on the verge of tears, "My team is in there! My friends are in there!"

Wufei paused to catch his breath as he caught up to them, "We can't just go charging in there." He stood and turned to Relena, "If something's happened, we have to be smart about this."

Relena closed her eyes and nodded in agreement. For a moment, she didn't move but suddenly she opened her eyes, now set in firm resolve and gestured for her two companions to follow her, "Well go in the back way. It will take us to one of the hills that overlooks the village."

Heero watched her go for a moment, waiting until she was out of immediate earshot before quietly addressing Wufei, "I have a feeling we're not going to find anything good in there."

The Chinese man nodded, "I just hope we're not walking into a trap."

They quickly caught up with Relena who was practically jogging down the overgrown trail. Her mind was racing with a thousand thoughts, but one was louder than all the others: They had been found. By what, by who she couldn't say, but after decades of living safely hidden in the mountains, someone had found them. She could even begin to think about what she was going to find at the end of this road . . .

"Relena, hold on a second." She stopped and turned around to where Heero was removing a large hand gun from his bag, he held it out to her. She shook her head at the weapon, and opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off, "If we're going to go in to the village, you can't go in unarmed."

She looked like she was about to protest for a moment, but thought better of it and took the firearm from his hand. Heero stepped in front of her, "I'll lead, Relena, you're behind me, Wufei, bring up the rear. Step exactly where I step, and nobody shoots until I do."

The other two nodded, Relena far less resolutely than Wufei as Heero spun around and began to quietly traverse the last fifty feet of the path. It opened into a clearing, and Heero motioned for them to step back into the trees. He walked them around the perimeter of the clearing, just out of sight of anyone who might wander into that area. As they slowly made their way closer to the central part of the village, he could already tell that things were bad. The smell of gasoline and death crept into the air but it was quiet . . . far too quiet.

The reached the edge of the trees, but before Heero could motion for them to stop, Relena pushed in front of him, stepping out of the trees and onto the edge of hill that looked down on the village. Even before he heard her gasp, he was already right behind her. He seized her wrist and tried to pull her back into the trees, but as he lifted his eyes to her face he caught sight of the scene before them. The breath left his chest and Relena's hand wordlessly slipped from his own.

They had been too late . . . by days, maybe by a week, however long it didn't matter now. The stone exteriors of the buildings were all that remained of the village. The thatched roofs, the gardens and small crop fields, anything that wasn't made out of stone had been burned to the ground . . . and this apparently included the villagers. Even from where they were standing the corpses scattered across the roads and yards were immediately visible, men, women, children . . . they had killed them all. There indistinguishable piles at the end of each road and Heero cringed to think what they were . . .

A bit of movement caught his eye and he saw a green jeep with a large blue insignia painted on the hood emerge from the trees. He didn't have to get closer to it to recognize what it was, the Oprichniki had finally found Shitou.

With a choking noise, Relena suddenly pitched forward, falling to her knees before Heero could catch her. At the same time Wufei emerged from the trees, walking over to join them and gasping as his eyes fell on what was left of Shitou. "My God . . ."

Heero had seen enough however, he hauled Relena to her feet and walked her back to within the cover of the trees, Wufei right behind them. Relena appeared to be in shock as he set her down on the ground and kneeled in front of her, "Relena," he put his hand on the side of her face and she seemed to come out of her daze, locking eyes with him, "Relena, there's nothing we can do, we have to leave."

She shook her head, "No . . . we can't . . ." she breathed

Heero took a breath and tried to keep himself calm, baring in mind the horrible trauma Relena must have been suffering, "I understand that you want to do something, but the village has already been destroyed, they've killed everyone living there. Does Shitou have a rendezvous point? We should go there and try to find any survivors that –"

"No." she stated, much more resolutely this time, "We can't leave because we need to get a copy of the virus that Proto wrote to take down S.A.R.I.E.L.S. It's the only thing we have that we can use to fight Josef, I can't leave here without it." Relena locked eyes with Heero; she didn't care if he didn't understand, she understood perfectly.

Shitou had been found, and it had been destroyed by the Oprichniki. There was a very good chance that she may be the only Keiji member from the village left alive and for all the panic, terror, and sadness that were threatening to tear her apart, she was still Kimi. There would be time for those emotions later, once she had made certain that Keiji could still win its fight against Josef.

Before Heero could say anything, Wufei interjected, "She's right." He came to stand beside Heero, "We can't leave without a copy of that file."

Heero stood and ran a hand through his hair, it wasn't as though he had done things like this for most of his life . . . but never before had he had Relena's safety to worry about. "Alright, I'll get into the underground head quarters complex and get the virus, you two –"

"I have to go with you." Relena interjected calmly.

Heero rounded on her, "No! I know what you're feeling right now, but we have no idea what's in there! We don't have any sort of intelligence on the Oprichiniki's forces, we don't –"

"Heero," Relena cut him off forcefully and got to her feet, "I have to go with because I'm Kimi –"

"That doesn't mean you should knowingly put yourself in danger!"

"_SO_," she kept talking, clearly losing her patience, "you'll need my fingerprints and retinal scans to get onto the seventh floor where the computer is!"

Heero shook his head, "I don't like this."

"You don't have to like it Yuy." Wufei dumped the contents of his rucksack on the ground and began pulling out any items that might be of use to them, "But we need Relena to get access to the computers in the shortest time possible." He picked up a small hand gun, checking that the safety was off before sliding it into the waistband of his pants, "We're at a slight advantage here in that they don't know that we're here let alone that we're going to break into the compound."

"From that, they couldn't have accessed the files already." Relena was now also rooting through the contents of her own backpack, "Proto set it up so that if there's an attempt to open them using anything but the Suki's, they'll wipe themselves off the hard drive."

"Fine." Heero muttered, mostly to himself. A sudden urge overtook him and he surged forward, grabbing Relena's arm and spinning her to face him, "If anything happens, you leave. You don't wait for me, you don't wait for Wufei, you get the hell out by whatever means necessary."

"Heero –"

"I mean it, Relena."

There was something about the resolve on his face; it was barely there, but he was not ordering her, he was pleading with her to keep herself safe. She could do nothing by nod in response before pulling away from his grasp and gesturing for the two men to follow her once again.

Wufei looked around them as they walked and realized that they were going back out to the bridge along the same trail they had just followed in. "Where are we going?"

"Back to the bridge." Relena answered, "We can't go in the main entrance, and I'm going to assume that the Oprichniki have already found the other two hidden ones from the inside." She stopped as they came out into the clearing again, the bridge sprawled out in front of them. She walked to the edge of it and Wufei wondered for a moment if she was going to led them back to the other side of the river, but instead she pointed to the massive waterfall cascading off the cliff several hundred yards from where they stood, "We're going to sneak in behind that."

Wufei gaped at her, "The waterfall?"

"Yes," she answered simply then looked towards Heero, "remember I told you we use it to generate electricity? We're going to get into the compound by following the tunnels we dug out to run electric cables through. That way we can also follow them directly to the seven floor and not have to expose ourselves."

Heero nodded, slightly impressed by Relena's planning, "Alright, we get in, we get out, we leave."

Surprisingly it was not as hard to get behind the waterfall as Heero feared it would be. There was a stone ledge that led straight behind it where a small maze of generators and electronic equipment littered the stone floor. Relena expertly navigated herself around it and to where a large rock jettisoned from the back wall. She motioned for them to follow her and Heero soon found himself standing in a sizeable underground cave.

Relena took out her flashlight and scanned the cavern for a moment before spotting the point where all of the wires and cables converged and seemed to disappear into the wall. She crossed the room and hoisted herself onto the entrance of the tunnel, considering it for a moment before turning back to her two companions, "We'll have to crawl and it will be a little tight. Will both of you be okay?" They nodded in reply, and Relena tried to get her rapidly beating heart to calm down as she the reality of what she was about to do slowly sank in. "Once we get to the compound we'll be able to tell because Keiji built the conduits to hold the cables."

Heero and Wufei climbed in after her. It was slow going, Relena hadn't been kidding when she said that it would be tight in there, but eventually the rock walls disappeared and were replaced by metal ones.

Relena stopped as they reached one of the more open areas. "Alright, we should be somewhere on the first floor now." She sighed and rubbed the side of her head, "I think our best bet is to try and find one of the elevator shafts, it will have one of the bigger cables running to it."

"You want to use one of the elevators to get down there?" Wufei sounded skeptical, "I thought you didn't want us to expose ourselves."

Relena rolled her eyes, "We'll get on top of the elevator. I'll open the hatch, get into the cabin, scan my finger prints, and send it down to the seventh floor. Once it gets there, we're going to climb back into the conduit and to the first computer we can find."

"This should go to the elevator." Heero had apparently been inspecting the cables they were crouched on top of and was holding one up to them, "Follow me."

The elevator shaft, fortunately, was closer than they thought it would be. But as they moved through the conduits, it became obvious just how dire the situation was. Below them, above the, and through the walls on either side they could hear footsteps and talking. Heero could not even begin to guess how many Oprichniki were running around the compound and he didn't have time to stop and figure it out, he could only hope that they wouldn't be discovered.

The reached the elevator shaft and he was grateful to see that they only had to shimmy down the cables a story to reach the top of the car. He wrenched open the ceiling hatch and Wufei lowered Relena in. She quickly scanned her hand and hit the button for the seventh floor. Wufei reached down into the car again and lifted her out and back onto the top of the elevator, which soon ground to a halt at the seventh floor.

Heero quickly located the cable conduit and ushered Relena inside, Wufei just behind her and him bringing up the rear. Just as he was starting to think that Relena might not know where she was going, she stopped over a latch in the floor. "Okay," she whispered and Heero could notice that she sounded nervous, "this should lead into the Suki's meeting room. There's a computer there that we can access the files we need from."

"And how do we know that the Oprichniki haven't set up show in there?" Wufei hissed.

Relena could only shrug as best she could in such cramped quarters, "Well, I haven't heard anyone since we got down here."

"We'll have to force the latch open," Heero interjected, "if someone starts shooting at us, we'll know they're in there."

Wufei didn't seem particularly thrilled with this plan but nodded nonetheless and moved out of Heero's way as best he could. Heero rolled himself onto his back and using both of his feet brought them down on the conduit latch. It creaked under the pressure and all three of them froze, listening for any sign of life below them. When none came, Heero kicked it again, and the piece of metal fell away, flooding the narrow tunnel with light. Heero signaled to Relena and Wufei to wait for him and then gracefully lowered himself into the room.

There was no one here . . . but it was more than that, it looked like no one had been here either. He lifted his arms motioning for Relena to jump and caught her before moving out of the way to allow Wufei to climb out. Relena immediately made her way towards the computer, scanning her hand, then her eye, and typing a very long password into the computer. Heero joined her, watching as she skimmed the list of files that was display, eventually selecting one and entering another long access code. When she was finished she stood and motioned for Heero to sit down, "These are all of Proto's files, do you which one is the virus?"

Heero shook his head, "No, but I can tell by looking back at the dates each of them were modified. I accessed it on March 17th, so I can narrow it down from there."

Heero's fingers flew across the keyboard as Wufei edged himself to the closed door. He looked out into the hall through the crack under the door. "I don't see anyone out there." He stood and turned back to Relena, "Is it possible that they just didn't find this place?"

Relena sighed a shook her head, "I don't see how they could not have . . ." She looked around the room one more time and couldn't help but feel a sense of relief wash over her; she had half expected to enter this room and find the bodies of her friends strewn across the floor . . . a tiny voice in the back of her head gave her hope that maybe, just maybe they had managed to escape.

"I found it." Heero announced, "I need something to store it though."

Relena ran over to where he desk still sat and pulled open one of the drawers, producing from it a data stick and tossing it to Heero. He caught it and immediately inserted it into the computer. "It will a take a minute or two to copy, then I'm going to crash the hard drive so that all of the data on here will be purged. You two start getting back into the conduit."

Wufei nodded from his position at the door and Relena began to look for a chair or something they could stand on as the conduit was a good 15 feet off the ground. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Heero remove the data stick from the computer and put it in his pockets, then begin typing several commands into the computer, it beeped and sputtered but eventually accepted.

Heero stood from the chair, just as Relena started dragging one of the desks under the conduit. But before she could even move it a foot, Wufei suddenly jumped back from the door.

"Shit! Someone's coming!"

Heero grabbed Relena and lifted her off the floor, "Get in the conduit!"

"There's no time, they're here!" Wufei yelled as he flung himself against the wall. A second later the door burst open in a small explosion, knocking all three of them to the ground. Men in blue uniforms surged into the room, quickly surrounding them.

Heero instinctually lifted his head, his gun in hand and pointed it at the nearest person, but even as he did a cool voice broke the air, "Dhat eez enough, Preventor. You are completely surrounded." He was a tall man, clean shaven, with short black hair and large shoulders, he spoke with a thick Russian accent, "Ve don't need anyvon else getteeng shot."

Heero let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and let his gun fall to the floor. Immediately, several Oprichniki soldiers surged forward and lifted he and Relena to their feet while still holding them in place. Another two dragged Wufei over to where they stood, lining all three of them up as the commander approached them.

"Ve saw dhat somevon vas accessing dhe main computer system and traced eet back to dhis room." He smiled and leaned closer to Relena, "And here ve find you."

"Sir!" one of the officers shouted from the computer Heero had been sitting at not three minutes ago, "It appears that they've wiped the hard drive sir . . . there's nothing on here."

The commander closed his eyes let out a long breath before his hand suddenly lashed out and connected with Wufei's face. He lurched forward and seized the Chinese man by his jacket collar, his previously calm voice now screaming, "Ve've been rounding up you Keiji scum for two days nov and yet you continue to come!" He scoffed at Wufei, "You people are like cockroaches, leeving underground, beeneeeth the rocks and in dark corners."

He waved to his men and turned to leave the room. Heero felt a sharp pain on the back of his head and everything went black.

- - - - -

"You can't be serious."

"Unfortunately, I am." Une removed her glasses and set them on the vast table before her as she spoke to the Yalta members gathered before her, "Nothing is concrete at this point –"

"Wait," Duo sat up abruptly in his chair, "you're telling us that we have to start coming up with a plan to invade Africa, but nothing is concrete at this point?"

"I mean, Agent Maxwell," Une practically growled at him, "that the timing involved in this is not left entirely up to us."

"Then to who?" For once, Zechs sounded just as confused as Duo.

"According to Paris, it depends on Josef."

The room was blanketed with silence until after a few long moments, Une finally spoke again, "I realize what I am suggesting, and what I am asking of you, but one way or another the end of this war is on the horizon, and Paris and her organization tell me that they have a plan in place to see to it that it is ended in our favor."

Une picked up her stack of papers and stood from her seat, "You all have your assignments. Once Tehran arrives back from his outing with Paris I'm hoping that he will be able to lend us some insight into just what we're dealing with here."

- - - - -

Heero gingerly opened his eyes. His head was throbbing with a well recognized pain that could only have come from being knocked out. He felt his heart rate speed up as he suddenly remembered what had happened. Sitting bolt upright he found himself in a small, dimly lit storage room of some kind, Relena and Wufei were sprawled out on the floor on either side of him. All of their hands were cuffed behind their backs and tightly; he could feel the sharp edges of the metal digging into his wrists.

He scanned the room carefully. For the most part it seemed to be a computer grave yard with parts of old machines piled up on the shelves that lined the room. As far as he could see there was only one door that went in or out and it was apparently made of steel.

A movement from beside drew his attention. Wufei groaned and lifted his head off the floor; he looked around the room for a second before locking eyes with Heero. "Did you figure out where we are?"

"No," Heero shifted himself so that he could nudge Relena, "I think we're still in the underground complex though." It only took a tiny a shove to wake Relena up.

Rather than try to bring herself into a sitting position, Relena simply opened her eyes and rolled onto her side, "What happened?"

"Someone found us." Wufei stated simply, but a look of panic suddenly crossed his face, "Yuy, did you still have the data stick?!"

Heero felt his own eyes go wide for a moment but after checking for the presence of an object in his pocket he relaxed as much as his heightened sense of alert would allow him. Rather than answer Wufei out loud he just nodded.

"Proto," both men jerked their head to where Relena was looking around the room in a dazed way, "we're in Proto's storage room." She sat up, her eyes glistening with fear, "They managed to break into Proto's lab . . ."

Heero took a deep breath and tried to collect himself, getting into a panic would not do any of them any good. "We need to figure out what's going on here. What do we know? The Oprichniki found Shitou and got into the hidden base."

"And the managed to get into the seventh floor." Relena added quietly. She turned to face her companions, a steely look in her eye, "The walls and doors here are all six inches of reinforced steel. They couldn't have gotten in without the access codes or _a lot_ of heavy machinery."

"Which they would have had a hell of a time getting down here." Wufei shook his head, in disbelief, "Maybe they hacked the computer system."

"They can't." Heero and Relena both replied in unison, then exchanged glances. Heero shrugged for Relena to continue, "The access system is entirely self-contained within the seventh floor. To get in you need to have a finger print scan, it's not something you can fake."

They sat in silence for a moment. Relena's mind was racing. Shitou had been discovered, the Oprichniki had wiped it off the map, and with every passing second it was beginning to look more and more like some from Keiji had had a hand in it. She shook the thought from her mind. That was not what was important now. Their greatest priority was to figure a way out of the base, get out of the village, and bring the data that they had downloaded to the next Keiji village.

"There is one good thing," Heero and Relena turned their heads towards Wufei, "these guys don't seem to know that they actually captured Kimi."

Relena's eyes widened as she nodded in agreement . . . so it must not have been a Keiji member that betrayed them, they would have informed the Oprichniki of her absence and to be on the lookout for her. The Oprichniki commander had said that they only got to the village two days ago and that they were still finding Keiji members in the base . . . maybe there was someone . . .

"Alright," she turned to where Wufei was getting himself to his feet, Heero right behind him, "so what do we –"

The words died on his lips as the latch to the door suddenly clicked and the massive door began to open. There was no time to do anything except watch and wait to see how many Oprichniki would be coming through . . .

Heero instinctively stepped in front of Relena, who was still sitting on the floor. The door was open just enough for someone to get through now as if they did not want to draw attention to themselves. He dipped his head around the corner before stealthily sneaking inside and Heero felt his eyes go wide as the man entered the room.

Never in his life did he think that he would be happy to see Sean Ephialtes.

"Sean!" Relena was on her feet immediately, "Oh thank God, how did you find us –" The words died on her lips as Sean's face curled into an sinister smile and he removed a large hand gun from his waist band.

Before any of them could react he leveled the firearm directly at them and pulled the trigger.

- - - - -

"Miss Philby, ma'am!"

Kristen whirled around at the sound of her name and came face to face with a panting and slightly sweaty Ivan Uzehasnyurieh. Before she could even ask him what was going on, he had seized her by the arm and was leading her down the hallway.

"Forgive me, ma'am, but this must be discussed in private."

They entered the first empty room that he found, and after pulling her inside and locking the door he turned around to face her, a look of joy and accomplishment playing on his features.

Kristen tried not to look too confused, "Are you going to tell me what's going on, Commander?"

"Ma'am" he took as step closer to her and his smile grew wider, "I've just received confirmation from my men . . . they got her."

It took Kristen a moment to process what she was hearing, "Th-they did it?!" Her face too split into a grin identical to the one Ivan wore, "They actually pulled it off?!"

He nodded, "I was told only five minutes ago ma'am. They have her in their custody and transporting her to Belarus as we speak. They'll take her to Cairo with one of our black ops planes, then fly her to Johannesburg from there. There will be no stops in the transport route and they have the girl heavily sedated so she won't be a problem." Ivan smiled to his commander, "With any luck they'll be here in 24 hours." The Oprichniki Commander glanced down at his watch, "And it will probably be a couple hours before anyone even notices that the girl is missing. Even if Une and her Preventers manage to give chase, my team will have too great a head start on them."

Kristen shook her head in a way to suggest that she was overwhelmed by this surprising, but fantastic news and flopped into one of the many squishy chairs littered around the room. "I still can't believe that after all these years the girl was alive and being hidden right under the world's nose . . ."

She trailed off before coming back to herself, "Have some of your men find Burgess, Straight, Maclean, and Blunt and convene them in the bunker." She sighed, letting her head rest on her hand and looked up to where Ivan stood over her, "You realize what this means?"

He returned her pleased expression, "That we now have the leg up on Nicholas Josef that you need in order to seize power for yourself."

Without warning the woman threw her head back and laughed. She was near hysterical, tears were streaming from her eyes, but she ignored them as she calmed herself down, "And what a beautiful day it will be."

- - - - -

Une set down her pen at the sound of her intercom buzzing and pressed the button that opened the line to Nicole, but before she could even speak her secretary's voice cut her off.

"Ma'am, Agent Noin is on line one. She says that it's urgent and needs to speak to you immediately."

Une felt her heart rate immediately increase but kept her calm as she thanked Nicole and switched on her vid phone, wondering what could have possibly happened now as she pressed the line's button. Noin's face suddenly appeared on the screen and with its emergence Une felt the blood drain from her face. Her friend's usually composed features were twisted into panic, her eyes were red and puffy, and tears streaked her face.

Une leaned closer to the device, "Lucrezia, what is it?! What's happened?!"

Time seemed to grind to a near halt as she watched Noin draw an unsteady breath, "Anne, I'm sorry, th-they just called me . . ."

"Who just called –"

"The Sanq Academy," she cut her off, a sob choking her voice as she spoke, "Mari never made it to school this morning."

-

-

-

-

-

-Preview of Chapter 20-

Relena looked up at the man standing over her, a thousand nameless emotions were coursing through her at that moment, but all she could do to stem was scream, "Sean how could you?! How could you betray Keiji like this?! How could you betray me?!"

The man's twisted expression suddenly melted into one of hurt and sympathy, he knelt down beside where she lay prone on the floor, and gently put a hand on the side of her face, "No," he cooed in a sicken voice to her, "not you . . . never you, Lena"

Relena twisted out of his grasp as best she could, but she was powerless to move away from him, "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

He stood back up and walked to where the door was still cracked open, pushing it shut and cocking the gun he was still holding as he went. His face was now completely emotionless, and his voice lifeless, "Only what I came here to do."


	20. Along Comes a Spider

Let me first start out by apologizing for taking so long with this chapter, it was incredibly difficult to write and I have to blame my computer for its suicidal efforts. Secondly let me apologize for the length and complexity of this chapter, (it is the longest one that I've written so far). As far as the content, this is another one of those chapters with a lot of information, so hopefully it come off as somewhat coherent. If this is overly confusing, please, please, please let me know so that I can try and clarify things as we good forward.

Thank you again so much to everyone who's been reviewing, and for everyone who's still reading and stuck with me after all of this! I hope that this story will continue to entertain. Finally, a big thank you to Mahan Mayhem for the shout out/recommendation, much appreciated! Alright, enough of my chatter onto the story!

Occam's Razor

Chapter 20 - Along Comes a Spider

Tynan

- - - - -

Anthony Gord gunned the engine of his Ducati S4R Testastretta motorcycle and leaned into the turn as he approached the main entrance of the Sanq Kingdom's palace. He slowed to a stop behind two other vehicles, each awaiting entrance at the palace's security check point. Anthony sighed to himself and flipped up the visor of his helmet to check his watch. It was 7:27am – he had a little more than an hour to get to the L-10 airbase if he was going to catch his transport flight to the Sanq Kingdom. He really had no room or excuse to be late; Une was gathering all of Yalta in Brussels now that Relena Peacecraft had departed back for her hidden village or wherever the hell she lived now. The meeting had been planned for weeks, Une would have his head if he was late, but he really needed to stop and get those reports he had written up . . .

Something was going on. For almost three years now he had been assigned to protect Une's daughter Mari on occasion, however in the past several months he had taken on the role almost full time, mostly by his own insistence. It wasn't just that he had started to take a liking to the girl and wanted to see to it personally that she was kept safe . . . it was also that he had begun to get the impression that there was something specific he needed to be keeping her safe from. At first he dismissed it as paranoia, something he rarely did . . . but more frequently, especially over the past two or three months, his sixth sense had been nagging at him to take a closer look.

It had been the day that he escorted her into the city about a week and a half ago that he decided there was definitely something happening that none of them were aware of. He was certain that there had been someone on top of that roof; that was a matter of fact, not question; what was questionable was who that person was and if they were in fact watching he and Mari. Once she had been returned safely to the palace he had gone back to check out the rooftop; again there was no question that someone had been up there, but what exactly they were doing could not be determined.

As best he could tell, he couldn't find any imminent threats immediately apparent, but that didn't mean that they weren't coming. For now, he would pick up the intelligence reports he had left at the palace and bring the matter before Yalta . . . though Yuy and Chang and apparently gone back to the Keiji village with Relena Peacecraft . . . though he had been told that only Chang would be coming back. Anthony shook his head, he had only met Relena Peacecraft three times – once on the day she returned to the Sanq Kingdom when Maxwell had gotten married and then twice more when he was picking up Mari at the palace before she had left for Brussels, but even in those brief encounters he could tell that there was something . . . unresolved between her and Yuy . . .

This theory was of course not without merit. He had never known her before she vanished nearly four years ago, but he was more than familiar with all aspects of the case . . . both official and unofficial. Officially, Heero Yuy was only Relena Peacecraft's Head of Security, unofficially there was a great deal more to their relationship. He had never really bought into the tabloid stories that boasted of a torrid and secret love affair between the two, but his usual blogs and websites had been rife with theories speculating Heero's involvement in her disappearance somehow. Upon meeting and subsequently working with Heero, Anthony had dismissed many of those theories . . . even months after her disappearance the man was too obviously still devastated by his loss of her. Now that he was aware of Heero's identity as one of the former Gundam pilots it all made sense . . .

The car at the front of the line made had still not gotten through the gate and Anthony pulled his motorcycle forward a bit to see what was going on, glancing down at his watch once more as he did so– 7:31am . . . if this line didn't hurry he really was going to miss his transport flight. Looking back up to where the guard was now gesturing at the man in the car, Anthony caught a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head to the left he saw the exiting gate swing open as the one of the other guards moved out of the checkpoint to where it was slowing down. The driver rolled down his window to flash the guard his identification . . . and Anthony couldn't help but feel as though he had seen the driver somewhere before . . .

"Agent Gord!" A familiar voice broke the air and Anthony snapped out of his daze to where Mari had rolled down the back window of the car and was waving to him. She smiled in a knowing way, "I thought that you were off today, what are you doing here?"

Anthony shook his head and tried to keep himself from smiling at her, "Mari, what security protocol are you violating right now?"

The girl rolled her eyes, "I'm exposing myself in an area with semi-unrestricted access." She sighed, "But really, why are you still here?"

"I just have to pick up something before I head out." He glanced down at his watch again – 7:33am, "And you're going to be late for school –" Even as the words left his mouth the car lurched forward and through the gate. Mari shrugged at him and rolled the window back up after waving one last time as the car turned on to the private road that led out of the palace grounds and to the main road, but he was distracted by the sudden out burst from the man in the car ahead of him. He was now getting out of his car, yelling about something and several of the other guards were rushing over to subdue him.

Without warning, Anthony felt a terrible realization wash over him. The man in the car ahead of him was a distraction and he suddenly remembered why Mari's driver had looked so familiar – he was the man that had been acting suspiciously in the dress store exactly a month ago today.

Instinct kicked in and Anthony barely had time to process what he was doing before he gunned the motorcycle's engine and spun it into a 180° turn, the back wheel flinging dirt and rocks into the air as it cut across the lawn. He took the turn onto the access road much faster than what would be considered safe and felt the sleeve of his jacket graze the ground. The engine sputtered and strained under the sudden demand for exertion as he twisted back the clutch and shifted the bike into high gear. He rounded the next corner to where the access road was open for almost a mile . . . and there was no sign of Mari's car.

Cursing under his breath, Anthony willed the motorcycle to go faster, knowing that his charge's kidnappers had no doubt already begun to make a break for it. The road curved once more as it wrapped around the side of the mountain, giving him a view of the rest of the road below; he could just make out a fast moving black sedan as it disappeared through the large entrance gate and onto the main road.

Anthony closed his eyes, prayed to whatever might be listening, and jerked the bike hard to the left. The motorcycle launched itself over the side of the sharp hill, airborne for what seemed like ages before the front wheel landed hard on the ground below it. The bike warbled and pulled, but he managed to steady it without breaking pace. The entrance gate flashed on either side of him as he burst on to the main road, narrowly avoiding several cars as he righted the bike and began frantically searching the traffic ahead of him for any sign of Mari's car.

Just as he was beginning to doubt that it was still on the road, he caught sight of it, only a few hundred feet ahead of him in the far right lane. Anthony gunned the engine once more and reached into his jacket with his free hand, extracting his Browning .40 S&W from his shoulder holster as he did. He was closing in on the car, it wasn't going that fast . . . if he could just shoot out one of the tires, then maybe he could kill the driver and get to Mari . . .

He was behind it now. Anthony narrowed his eyes and tried to find Mari in the car, he would try to take out one of the tires from the side she was not sitting on. His eyes widened slightly as he found the top of her head, she was apparently crouching against the right side of the car . . . that made his job easier. He leveled the handgun at the rear left tire, lining up his shot as best he could while traveling in access of 60mph on a highway.

Suddenly the car jerked to the right, veering off the road onto a small path that he knew led towards a rural town. Anthony swore, he could not let the car out of his sight, but as soon as he turned off the road they would know he was following them, but he had no choice. He pulled hard to the right barely clearing the turn as he continued down the small, tree-lined road after Mari's car. Inevitably, it sped up, kicking up dust behind it as it went.

Anthony urged the bike on to what he was sure was its maximum speed; he wasn't gaining on it anymore, but he wasn't losing it either. Again, he leveled his gun at the rear tire, but to his surprise, the car suddenly slowed and pulled off to the side of the road. Even as he approached, it screeched to a halt along the trees that lined the road and three other vehicles emerged from the woods. He knew that these people were the kidnapper's backup, but he literally had no where to go; they knew that he was following them and as he pulled back on the brakes realized he would not be able to stop before he was within their firing range.

Closing his eyes, Anthony leaned as far as he could to the right, bringing the bike practically on top of him as they both skidded to a halt. Even before he lifted his head he could hear footsteps rapidly approaching him. He rolled over on his side, using the bike for as much cover as it would afford him and glanced out the side. He caught sight of one of his pursuer's legs and without hesitation fired. There was a yell and the man fell to the floor; Anthony waited for his head to come into view and fired again. Almost immediately they began shooting back, but that particular noise was not what concerned him the most.

"Who are you people?! What do you wan–" Mari's voice barely reached his ears as she was pulled out of the car. Someone was yelling back at her, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.

He knew that he had to act now, they were about to get away with her. Taking a deep breath, Anthony rolled out to the side of the motorcycle, firing indiscriminately as he went. To his relief he heard someone scream and hit the floor as he stood. There were two left . . . and one was aiming directly at him. They both pulled the trigger at the same moment, and both bullets found their mark. Anthony grunted in pain as the tiny piece of metal lodged itself in his right shoulder, but as he fought to stay standing, he looked up and saw that he aim had been more accurate. The man was now lying on the floor, blood oozing from his chest; he comrade seemed too stunned to move for a moment, which was all that Anthony needed. With a quick pop the man's body fell to the floor to join the others.

Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Anthony flung himself backward and into the trees just as a renewed hail of bullets was fired in his direction. He could hear one of the kidnappers yelling orders, apparently he did not want to leave until he was sure there were no witnesses left. Anthony ignored him, and dashed along the perimeter of trees, stopping as Mari's car came into view. They had forced her facedown on the ground, three men were standing guard around her with guns drawn, one of them still barking orders to the other men.

As soon as he fired a shot he would give away his position. He would shoot one of them, then take out the two other as they turned in his direction, grab Mari, throw her into one of the cars, and make a break for it. He was fairly certain that they would not shoot her, if they had only wanted to kill her they would have done so already.

Anthony took a breath he didn't realize that he needed and carefully took aim. The first man dropped silently to the ground and the other two whirled around in his direction. The second fell almost immediately, the third managed to get a shot off before he too was taken out. Not wasting a second, Anthony burst out of the trees, seizing Mari by the arm and hauling her to her feet, "Get up!"

She lifted her head, eyes wide as they fell on his face. "A-agent Gord . . ." She was moving almost immediately, but they had not made it two steps when her arm was suddenly jerked from his grasp. Anthony spun around, just in time to see Mari pulled into the grip of one of the kidnappers. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth as though to scream to him, just as he heard a gun cock back next to his left ear.

Time seemed to slow to almost a stop. There was a loud bang, a noise that sounded so familiar, yet it was like he had never heard it before. Light flashed before his eyes, blinding him with pain and he was vaguely aware of the fact that he was suddenly falling, but barely felt his body connect with the ground as the world slowly faded to black while somewhere off in the ever disappearing world, a desperate and hysterical voice was screaming . . .

"Agent Gord!!"

- - - - -

Two quick 'pops' broke the air and before Relena could even turn around, Heero crumpled to the floor behind her with a grunt. She felt the blood drain out of her face as she saw his begin to seep onto the floor below his body. Her mind went blank and the world around her vanished, barely aware of Wufei jumping to his feet and rushing Sean only to be knocked back by the larger man.

Heero's shoulder moved a bit as though he were trying to roll himself over; the slight movement snapped Relena out of her daze and instinct caused her to lurch forward toward where Heero was laying, completely oblivious to the yelling coming from behind her. She was mere steps from him when another 'pop' resonated through the room and the ground in front of Heero's body exploded with dust and bits of tiling.

"Take another step and I'll kill him this time!"

Relena whirled around to where Sean was still pointing the gun at the ground between her and Heero. The shear gravity of the situation suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks – Shitou had been found, Sean had led the Oprichniki straight to them, they had possibly killed everyone here, and now she, Wufei, and Heero were captured here and Heero was bleeding to death on the floor not five feet from her . . . and now Sean was probably going to kill all of them . . .

"I mean it Lena!" Sean waved the gun while simultaneously delivering a kick square into Wufei's ribs. The Chinese man grunted from his position on the floor as Sean whirled back towards where Relena was now standing square between him and Heero.

Relena took a deep breath as she tried to assess the situation. Wufei was off to her right, balled up on the floor trying to pull himself up with his hands still tied behind his back, Heero was directly behind her, hands bound and only semi-conscious. Before her, Sean was still holding the gun, only now it was pointed directly at Heero's head. Sean's hand was not shaking, there was no sweat on his forehead, not hesitancy in his eyes, only a cold, calm glare. He was in complete control of this situation, Relena could see no way out, she had to handle this situation one step at a time by determining exactly what she was dealing with.

"Heero?" Her voice came out far more frail and frightened sounding than she tried to make it, but she pushed to show of weakness aside, "Heero, say something, are you –"

"Shut-up, Lean." Sean's voice was surprisingly quiet but forceful and shook Relena to her core; she subconsciously took a step backward, needing to get as close to Heero as possible.

Sean immediately reacted by cocking the gun, "I told you to stay away from him! That bastard's going to die right here . . ." Sean lifted his eyes to meet Relena's, a disturbing look playing upon his features, ". . . but not before he hears everything."

Rage suddenly overtook Relena and she felt herself snap and she rushed at Sean barely conscious of what she was doing. The larger man sidestepped her easily and forced her back on the ground. Relena desperately flung herself backwards, trying to make sure she remained between Sean and Heero. Her captor however, seemed to have forgotten about Heero for the time being, opting instead to stare down at her with a detached look in his eyes. His expression only angered Relena more, "Sean what did you do?!" She shrieked at him in a voice she hardly recognized as her own.

"Isn't it obvious, Kimi?" Wufei practically spat at the man standing over him, while pulling himself into a sitting position, "He betrayed Keiji, he led Josef and the Oprichniki right to Shitou!"

Relena looked up at the man standing before her, a thousand nameless emotions were coursing through her at that moment, but all she could do to stem was scream, "Sean how could you?! How could you betray Keiji like this?! How could you betray me?!"

The man's twisted expression suddenly melted into one of hurt and sympathy, he knelt down beside where she lay prone on the floor, and gently put a hand on the side of her face, "No," he cooed in a sicken voice to her, "not you . . . never you, Lena"

Relena twisted out of his grasp as best she could, but she was powerless to move away from him, "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

He stood back up and walked to where the door was still cracked open, pushing it shut and cocking the gun he was still holding as he went. His face was now completely emotionless, and his voice lifeless, "Only what I came here to do."

'What he came here to do', what that even mean? How could he have . . . Relena suddenly felt an unfamiliar sensation wash over her and taking a deep breath she gracefully rose to her feet despite her hands still being bound behind her back. She calmly turned to where Sean was leveling his gun at the group, her voice cold and deadly sounding, "So now what Sean?" She lifted her eye to meet his own, "Now you finish the job? You kill Kimi of Shitou and the only other two people who'd know what happened to her and then go running back to Josef?!"

Sean seemed taken aback by Relena's sudden change in demeanor and she took the opportunity advance on him, "What did he give you, Sean? What were your friends, your family worth?!"

The man's expression abruptly changed to one of horror and outrage, he extended his free arm and pushed Relena backwards. She tripped over her feet and fell flat on back without the benefit of her arms to balance herself. Sean came to stand over her, his eyes wide and his voice strained, "Nicholas Josef has nothing to do with this! Do you think I would align myself with that pathetic coward of a man!?"

"So what," Relena and Wufei both gasped and turned to where Heero had lifted his head off the ground and was struggling to sit himself up, Relena was immediately on her feet again, Sean's protests being drown out by Heero's strained voice, "Josef just lent you a battalion of Oprichniki agents?"

"Lena, get away from him!" Sean practically shrieked at her, but his objection was only met by Relena throwing herself between Heero and Sean's gun.

"Wufei, check him!"

Sean took a step towards them, "I said not to touch him or –"

But Relena quickly advanced on Sean, making sure to keep herself squarely between him and Heero and giving Wufei the opportunity to sling his arms under his legs so that his hands were in front of him. Wufei leapt to his feet and made his way to where Heero was laying. She heard the Chinese man stop near Heero and she dared a glance over her shoulder, "Wufei?"

"Both wounds were in his stomach, he's loosing a lot of blood." There was a groan from Heero, followed by what sounded like Wufei forcing him back onto the ground, "He needs medical attention . . . soon."

Relena turned back to keep her eyes on Sean, yelling back to him, "Use his jacket, and put pressure on the wounds, hold it there no matter –"

"God damn it, I'm telling you to let that bastard bleed to death or –"

"Or what?!" Relena drew herself up to full height, "You'll shoot me?! You'll kill me just like you killed the rest of our friends?!" 

"I would never!!" The other three occupants of the room started at their captor's sudden outburst. To Relena's shock, Sean's eyes were practically watering. He took a step forward and reached out to cup the side of Relena's face with his hand, "Relena Peacecraft, I could never hurt you."

She felt her eyes go wide and with a jolt of surprise she jumped back from him, "What did you –"

Sean shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, "I never meant to deceive you, Relena . . . but, but I wasn't supposed to know who you were–"

"How did you know!?" Wufei sat straight up from where he was hunched over Heero, he expression bewildered, "This whole time you've known who she is? You've been with Keiji before she even got here, you weren't involved in hiding her in Shitou, you aren't one of the Suki, how could you possibly know who she is?"

"Because," a small, demented smile was now playing on the man's lips, "I'm the one who forced her to come here in the first place."

- - - - -

The first sensation that struck her was a dull ache that seemed to blanket her body. Mariemaia groaned and slowly opened her eyes and tried to sit up, but immediately thought better of it, instead resigning herself to groggily surveying the dark, unfamiliar room she suddenly found herself in.

She took a deep breath and tried to assess what had happened . . . She had been kidnapped, taken out of the Sanq Kingdom to God only knows where. Agent Gord had –

Mari felt her breath catch in her throat. Agent Gord had tried to rescue her . . . and they had shot him . . . Her eyes began to sting with tears. Agent Gord was probably dead, the only person that had seen what had happened to her, he had risked his life to try and save her and . . .

A terrible realization swept over Mari: No one knew what had happened to her, it would have been hours before anyone started to look for her, and even then they would have no idea where to begin.

She couldn't help it, she choked on the heavy feeling in the back of her throat and let out a stifled sob.

"Oh now, don't start crying."

Mari sat bolt upright, ignoring the lightheadedness that threatened to overtake her and frantically scanned the room. After what felt like hours her eyes finally came to rest on a figure seated in the shadows of the large room. It stood and stepped into the light revealing a thin woman, with brown hair, probably in her early thirties. She continued toward Mari, stopping only a few feet in front of her. The look on her face was odd, a mix between what seemed to be both concern and curiosity. When she finally spoke though her voice was cold, "I would hope that the daughter of the great Commander Une wouldn't start sobbing like a child."

"Who are you?!" Mari was suddenly enraged for reasons she couldn't name. "Are you one of Josef's cronies?" 

The woman shrugged, "I'm not sure that should be the exact description, but think whatever you want." To Mari's surprise the woman took a seat next to her on the couch and extended her hand, "However, if you wish to be more specific, you may call me Kristen."

Mari looked at Kristen's hand for a moment before brushing it aside; she saw no reason to be polite to the people who had kidnapped her, "You think that just because you've got Commander Une's daughter Josef's going to be able to win this war now?"

"Oh Mari," Kristen shook her head a bit as she took a seat next to the younger woman, her voice was almost sympathetic, "there are just so many things wrong with that sentence."

Mari gaped at the woman as her stomach suddenly twisted itself into a series of knots; she couldn't possibly be talking about . . . "Wha – What do you mean?"

"Well," Kristen flipped her hair over her shoulder, "in the first place I think we both know that you're not really Une's daughter."

Mari scoffed at her, "Everyone knows that. She adopted me after I was orphaned during the war."

"Ah yes," the older woman sighed, "but I would venture to say that there are very few still alive who know the circumstances under which you were orphaned." She shifted herself so that she was looking directly at Mari, "I must say, you look so much like your late father."

Mariemaia Khushrenada felt her eyes go wide, but before she could utter anything to dispute the statement her captor had just made, Kristen spoke again, "Don't deny it Mariemaia, I know that you are the daughter of Treize Khushrenada, the little girl that led a failed coup de tat against the ESUN government." She smiled a sickening smile, "I have to admit that you were a bit of a hero among my friends and I . . . we were so very happy to find out that you were in face alive all this time."

Mari felt the blood drain from her face; this woman . . . she knew who she was, but how? And what did she intend to do with this information?

Kristen abruptly stood from the couch, snapping Mari out of her thoughts who watched as the older woman crossed the lavishly decorated room and opened a cabinet door, removing a bottle of dark, amber colored liquid and poured herself a generous glass. She swirled the liquid around in the glass before taking a long drink. "I meant what I said before, you really do look just like your father."

She set the glass down and replaced what she had just consumed, still talking as she did, "So much so that I am simply amazed that no one has recognized you over these past seven years. But I suppose that because it had been reported that you were killed in the bunker by your own grandfather, no one was looking for you."

Mari shook her head; this wasn't happening, this just couldn't be happening. "Fine," her voice came out much braver sounding than she felt, "you've got me. So what exactly are you planning to do with me now?"

Kristen smiled sweetly to her, "Oh, I'm afraid that I don't believe this room is secure enough to explain that to you right now." The older woman drained her glass once again and set it down on the table before crossing the room and stopping in front of the door, her hand on the knob, "For now, I'll have someone bring you to your new accommodations."

"A prison cell?" Mari asked even though she knew the answer.

Kristen tilted her head and smiled again, "It's where we keep the people we want to be sure no one is going to find." She pulled the door open and called over her shoulder to Mari, "I'll see you tomorrow, dear."

- - - - -

Relena felt the blood drain from her face and the bottom drop out of her stomach, the air left her lungs as though she had been hit in the chest and room began to spin before her. How could this be possible? How could Sean have had anything to do with . . . This didn't make any sense . . . what could he possibly mean?

Breathing heavily, Relena threw a glance over her shoulder to where Wufei's eyes were just as wide as her own. Next to him, Heero coughed and tried to speak but did not seem to have the strength and Wufei gently pushed him back onto the ground. Beside herself the Keiji leader turned back to Sean who looked quite pleased with their reactions. Relena tried to formulate a cohesive thought, but the only words she could get out were a breathy "Sean . . ."

He sighed and dipped his head in response, "Well, that's another thing I haven't been honest about . . . my name isn't Sean Ephialtes."

"I don't care what your name actually is!" Relena screamed at him, "How do you know what mine is?!"

Sean tilted his head to one side, "I told you Relena, I'm the one that made it so you had to come here."

"Bullshit!" Wufei was suddenly on his feet again, and both Sean and Relena whipped around in his direction, "Don't try to make yourself out to have some role in Relena's presence in Keiji! There's no way that you could have made her come here! She and I arranged for her to come here of her own free will."

Sean shook his head, "No," he stated simply and paused for a moment so that he could turn back to Relena before continuing, "you did not decide to come here of your own free will, you decided to come here because you felt you had no other choice."

His words had barely registered with Relena when the terrifying truth of what had really happened over the past five and a half years swept over her. She took a step towards Sean, her eyes wide with disbelief and her mouth forming words she could scarcely bring herself to believe.

"It was you." She could barely speak and her voice came out no more than a whisper, "You were the one who was blackmailing me, you were the one sending me those pictures and the letters . . ."

Sean closed his eyes and took a step back from her as though ashamed of the accusations being made against him, but Relena countered his retreat by advancing on him, "Sean . . . you're one of the Cambridge Five?"

"I told you," he kept his head bowed, but his voice was smoldering, "my name is not Sean." He finally lifted his eyes to meet hers, "It's John Philby, and I was one of the founding members of the Cambridge Five."

"They really exists then?" Relena and Sean both turned their heads back to Wufei who was looking as though someone had just hit him over the side of the head with an anvil, "After all this time . . . the Cambridge Five really do exist." He shook his head as though he simply could not get his mind around this fact before returning his gaze to Sean, "And you're one of them?"

"No." Sean stated resolutely, "I didn't want any part in their self-destructive plans and I left them . . . they believe me to be dead."

Relena shook her head in a state of complete and total disbelief, "All this time . . . you were the one . . ." She stopped and lifted her head to where Sean was still staring at the floor, "Sean . . . wha . . . why did you . . .?"

Their captor's head snapped up, a confused look on his face, "Don't you understand Relena?" He took a step towards her so that they were only a couple of feet apart, "I did all of this to protect you."

She was practically in tears now, completely overwhelmed by this information, "From what?! What were you trying to protect me from?"

Sean's eyes widened with the realization that Relena was simply not comprehending what he was saying, "From the Cambridge Five."

"But you're one of them!!" Wufei bellowed back in response.

"I was!" Sean rounded on the Chinese man, clearly frustrated that they just were not understanding him, "Don't you get it?!"

"No!" Wufei and Relena both answered at the same time, but Relena kept speaking, "No, I don't get it! I don't get why you betrayed Keiji! Why you brought the Oprichniki here and why you're telling me that you were the one sending me those pictures and letters!"

"Because they were going to kill you!" he yelled back at her. "They were going to kill you and I had to do something!"

Sean threw his hands up in the air and let out a frustrated growl as he turned his back to them. Without even thinking Relena launched herself forward making a grab for the gun now dangling from Sean's right hand. Before she even made contact, she knew that she was seconds too late; in a flash Sean seized her wrist and threw her over his shoulder. She slid across the floor before painfully connecting with the steel door that Sean had come through. The room suddenly erupted into yelling.

"Relena!"

"Don't touch her!"

But both Heero and Wufei's voice were drown out by Sean's renewed bellowing, "You're making me do this!!" His voice was crazed and when Relena picked herself she saw a different man standing before her. Sean's eyes were wild, his hair sticking out at all angels, beads of sweat were appearing on his forehead, and his jaw was clenched in a horrible grimace. He fired a shot into the air as he stepped back to the side of the room so that he could see all three of his captives, "Now you are all going to sit here and listen to me!!"

Without warning his hand lashed out and seized Relena by the wrist hauling her to her feet and throwing her against the wall next to Heero and Wufei, "I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I DID FOR YOU!!" He cocked the gun back and aimed it at Heero's head, "And if any of you move I swear to God I'll fucking blow his brains all over the wall!"

Relena's breath caught in her throat, but fortunately Wufei spoke for her, "Alight," he quickly added, putting his still cuffed hands out in front of him, "alight, just – just calm down . . . we'll promise that we'll listen . . ." He twisted his head to Relena and nodded, prompting her to nod in return. There was nothing that they could do right now, they would have to keep him talking for as long as possible and hope he made a mistake . . . and hope that Heero could hold on for that long . . .

Sean for his part was now clawing at his hair as though trying to calm himself, he seemed almost to be fighting off tears, and when he finally spoke his voice was desperate sounding, "You have to understand . . . this wasn't a life I chose for myself . . . it was my sister . . . it was all my sister!" He shook his head and lifted if to look at where Relena and Wufei were now gaping at him, "She was the one that started digging into our family history! She was the one that found out our grandfather was actually Alexander Cherheudohn!"

Relena practically choked on her tongue, "Yo-your grandfather was . . . but . . . that means . . ."

A look of relief spread across Sean's face, "Yes! Yes! You understand! Leon Cherheudohn was our great-grandfather!"

Wufei shook his head, "No . . . that would mean that . . ."

Sean nodded resolutely, "Nicholas Josef is our second cousin." He shook his head again and put a hand over half of his face, "The idiot has no idea of course! He doesn't know that he is not Leon Cherheudohn's only living heir!" He abruptly withdrew his hand from his face, "He has no idea that he was and to this day remains the Cambridge Five's puppet! That the man who sought him out and planned his coup was my uncle John Caincross!"

Relena audibly gasped, "But John Caincross –"

"Yes, he was the idiot that my sister used as the nexus for the Echidna Virus!" Sean sighed and held out a hand as if telling Relena to stop, "I have to explain. Kristen –"

"Your sister?" Wufei clarified for himself.

"Yes, my sister, my twin sister Kristen . . ." Sean trailed off for a moment before snapping out of his thoughts, "When Kristen discovered the truth about our grandfather and great-grandfather she furiously confronted our uncle and forced him to agree to help the two of us renew the power of the Cherheudohn family and the United Alliance that it created. It was then that Uncle John revealed to us that Nicholas Josef was in fact out second cousin."

"And so Kristen decided to exploit this fact?" Despite the situation Relena could not pass up the opportunity to gather as much information about the Cambridge Five while it so willingly presented itself.

"Kristen had our uncle and Josef begin to dig up the remnants of the Alliance." Sean shook his head, "So many of them were willing to join us and soon after my sister, my uncle, and myself along with two other members of the first generation of the Alliance formed the Cambridge Five to oversee our operations. Josef was the obvious choice to use as our figurehead . . . but before that we needed to come up with a way for him to seize power."

Beside Wufei, Heero stirred, apparently conscious again, "So you lunatics had Theodore Hall engineer the Echidna Virus, injected your uncle with it and turned him loose on the ESUN Parliament?"

Sean rounded on Heero, waving the gun at him, "Shut-up! You don't get to speak!"

"So what happened then Sean!?" Relena quickly jumped in trying to divert the raving man's attention away from Heero, "You formed the Cambridge Five and then what happened?"

He spun around with his arms out on either side of him, as if to ask if she were really that dumb, "Well we went ahead with our plan of course." Sean smiled in a twisted sort of way and took a step toward Relena, "And that's where you came in."

Relena tried to stop her eyes from widening, but Sean didn't seem to notice as he continued, "We needed a politician with a skeleton in their closet and I was given the assignment to find one." He waved his hand dismissively at Relena, "I'll spare you the details, the short version is that I moved to Brussels and began digging up as much dirt on ESUN's most prominent members as possible while watching them as much as possible . . . and that's how I came across your little secret Relena."

A sense of dread suddenly filled Relena even though she knew what Sean was about to say. Before her the deranged man continued, "I must admit, I'm somewhat proud of my detective skills . . . most people would have completely disregarded a simple e-mail between the Vice-Foreign Minister and then Prime Minister Joshua Bartlett about a Soldier's Amnesty Bill, but something about it just didn't seem right to me."

He smiled a demented smile, his voice was still strained sounding, something had very obviously snapped in this man's head, "Do you remember it Relena? Do you remember an e-mail conversation in which you asked Prime Minister Bartlett to support your proposal to have mercenaries and non-military personnel added to the Amnesty Bill?"

Sean stepped closer to Relena so that he was standing directly over her, "Do you remember that when he refused, citing various examples including specifically the Gundams and the terror they had wrought upon the Earth and the colonies?" He leaned closer to her face, "Do you remember how he asked you how you could be so forgiving of such men considering that your own school had been attacked and destroyed by one of the Gundams?"

Relena shook her head but before she could even respond, Sean was on his feet again, his voice growing louder and his gestures more emphatic, "I must admit that I, like the Prime Minster, found it very strange indeed but pushed the thought from my mind. However, despite my best efforts this sneaking suspicion that there was more to this simple observation would not go away. What if, I thought, what if there was a reason you were so forgiving . . ."

Sean closed his eyes as if reliving a painful memory but his voice was somewhat pleasant as though telling a story to a group of children . . . it sent chills up Relena's spine, "It was a painstaking process, going through all of the schools records and comparing them to the events of the war but after months and months of research and investigation I found something." He spun around to where Heero was laying on the floor, breathing heavily and fighting to remain conscious. "On April 7, 195 the Alliance Military reported an encounter with a craft that would later be determined to be the Gundam 01. The Gundam was believed to have crashed several miles off the coast of the area of the Saint Gabriel Academy. That same day, an ambulance crew reported an assault by a young man that was found on the beach, they were called by a young woman who identified herself as Relena Darlian. The next day a new student registered at the Saint Gabriel Academy under the name 'Heero Yuy'. He attended classes for less than a month before withdrawing from the Academy on the day of the Gundam attack."

A sickening and demented laughter suddenly filled the room and it became more obvious than ever that Sean had lost his mind as he screamed, "I had found what we needed!!"

Relena shook her head in a state of total dismay; this just couldn't be happening. Sean had found out about Heero by looking through their old school records?

"It only took a bit more digging before I found the other four and tracking them down was even simpler!" Sean practically shrieked, "It was perfect! I couldn't have planned it better if I'd wanted to! The Foreign Minister, the beloved Relena Peacecraft, not only knew the identities of the Gundam pilots but was hiding two of them right under ESUN's nose in the Preventer's Bureau!" He practically doubled over with laughter, "And one of them was the head of her security detail!!"

The three captives watched awe struck as the man continued to laugh before suddenly standing upright and angrily kicking a chair to his right across the room, "AND THEN JUST LIKE THAT EVERYTHING WENT TO HELL!"

He let out a frustrated scream, this time picking up the chair and smashing it over one of the many tables in the room. Bits of computer parts and splinters of wood flew through the air, but Sean paid them no mind, continuing on his tirade, "I was too deep undercover to openly communicate with my sister and the rest of the Cambridge Five, the only message I could get to them was that Relena Peacecraft had a connection to the Gundam pilots and they in turn asked that I devote my full attention to following you."

Sean stopped suddenly and took and deep and ragged breath, "So I did." His voice was almost mournful sounding, "I followed you for months, and the months became a year and a half; I knew everything that there was to know about you." He lifted his head to look at Relena, "And slowly, over all of those months I learned two things about you that I never would have expected to know. That you were truly the only person capable of leading the world . . . and that over this time I had fallen in love with you."

The words hit Relena like a ton of bricks, she felt her stomach lurch in an unpleasant manner. She wouldn't pretend that she had not been vaguely aware of the fact that Sean was very fond of her . . . but she never . . . no, he was wrong . . . Sean did not love her, in many ways he hardly knew her . . . and it was very obvious that the man had been hiding some very serious mental conditions . . .

She had to defuse this situation as quickly as possible before Sean became violent again; Relena took a deep breath, trying to make her voice as sincere as she could under these circumstances, "Sean . . . I don't . . . you can't –"

"Don't tell me how I feel!!" Sean practically shrieked at Relena. He closed the distance between them so that he was towering over Relena, "After everything I did for you, after all that I gave up, you would doubt me when I tell you that I did it because I love you?!"

Sean let out a noise somewhere between a growl and a scream, "But you do! You'd rather have –"

"What did you do for her, Sean?" Wufei desperately cut the man off, knowing exactly where he was going and wanting the keep Sean's steadily deteriorating mind off of Heero, "You said you gave up everything to protect her, how did you do it?"

Sean took a ragged breath, covered his face with both of his hands, the right one still holding the gun which Relena couldn't help but notice was still pointed in their general direction. Sean pulled his hands down the length of his face in an exaggerated manner, finally letting the one holding the gun fall to his side, while he wrapped the other around the part of his neck under his chin. "I have to admit that even before I had known you Relena, I felt myself hesitating . . . I can't say why but if I had to decide on a reason I would say it was my sister . . . even my uncle was afraid of her, I could see it in his eyes . . . she was . . . it was if she believed she was born to wage war against ESUN . . ."

It could have been Relena's imagination, but she could have sworn that she saw Sean's eyes glaze over as if he were reliving a painful memory; whatever the emotion was, it was gone as quickly as it came and Sean raked a hand through his hair, "Whatever the reasons, the simple fact of the matter is that I did not completely trust Kristen, and it is this fact alone that saved your life Relena."

Relena could only nod in response, her mind was being plagued by a strange combination of horror at these revelations, panic for Heero, and . . . fascination. Despite the desperation of the situation, the fact that Sean could, and mostly likely would kill them at any moment she couldn't help but be . . . consumed . . . by a burning fascination . . . she shook her head as if to physically clear it, she had to keep Sean talking "Why? Why did that save my life?"

Sean looked up with a frantic expression, "Because as a result of this distrust I did not tell my sister who the Gundam pilots were."

Wufei started, "You just said that you did!"

"No!" Sean screamed at them, "Weren't you listening?! I just told you that all I told them was that I discovered that Relena had a connection to the Gundam pilots!"

"But you never told them who we were." Wufei responded, it was a statement of understanding, not a question.

Sean nodded, "They insisted that I keep pressing . . . I told them that I was trying . . . I am ashamed to admit that Kristen's threats and pressure eventually wore me down . . .

Relena gasped loudly, but her voice came out little more than a whisper, "You told them?"

There was a tense moment until Sean shook his head, "No . . . but I told them that I knew who they were . . . but I still just did not trust Kristen enough to tell her the identities of the five pilots. I made up the excuse that I did not think I could safely and securely communicate the names to her without seeing her in person and for the time being that was not possible . . . I bought myself at least several more months to decide what to do . . . but in the meantime my sister, my uncle and the other two went ahead with their plans . . ."

Out of nowhere, Sean let out a scream of frustration and he kicked the piece of furniture close to him. He was seething now, his shoulders heaving up and down, "When they finally revealed to me what they were and it was confirmed to me that you were in fact in danger, Relena. Despite the fact that I could not tell them who the Gundam pilots were, they were going to use you as their lynch pin to bring down the government. Even going in blind they were willing to risk using you."

Relena felt herself physically recoil at the site of him now, his teeth were clenched into a horrible grimace and his eyes were wide and frantic as he continued to rant, "The situation was so delicate, the fact that you might know who the Gundam pilots were . . ." He smiled in a sort of admiring way, "But that was what was so brilliant about you, that because no one knew of the information you might hold . . . but now that someone had found out . . . you were living in a glass house and did not even know it Relena. And it was this fact, this situation that my sister planned to exploit."

She shook her head, the sick feeling in her stomach was rising into her throat but she fought it back. She could not afford to break down right now, she could not show this man any weakness . . . She tried to steady her voice as she spoke, "How could they possibly exploit such a scenario, Sean?" She took a deep breath, "They didn't have any concrete information, what could they have been planning?!"

Sean's eyes seemed to light up but it only disturbed Relena even more; something had clearly snapped, this man . . . a man she believed to be her friend . . . no, this was not Sean, this was not the same Sean that she had known and trusted these past years . . .

The man in question stepped closer to her and continued in a delighted but strained sounding voice, "As you know, my uncle John Caincross, held a position as an aide in Prime Minister Franz's cabinet. All he would have to do is say that he had uncovered evidence that Foreign Minister Relena Peacecraft knew the identities of the Gundam pilots. After this accusation one of two things would happen, either Relena would reveal them or she would not. If she chose to reveal them, it would give my uncle ample opportunity to bring a formal inquiry against Prime Minster Franz's administration. All this would be conducted just before a Parliamentary election and my uncle would have no problem in securing positions in Parliament for our Alliance members who would then elect Josef to the position of Prime Minister."

Wufei straightened himself by leaning against the wall behind him so that he could look Sean squarely in the eye, the tone in his voice was calm, as if to ask if Sean was really that dumb. "Did they really think that Relena would just confess the identities of the Gundam pilots? Just like that?"

Sean shook his head, "No. . . . I – I don't know . . ." he grabbed the side of his neck again in a nervous way, suddenly looking very uncomfortable, "If Relena chose not to reveal them, things would not go nearly so smoothly, and the Cambridge Five would have gone with their contingency plan . . ." He looked up from the spot he had been staring at on the floor, "They were going to kidnap and kill you Relena and then they would use my knowledge of the pilot's identities and leak them to the public. Don't you see? Once it came to light that they had connections to you, that they were possibly even friends of your it would be a simple and logical conclusion to draw that they had done away with you to prevent you from revealing their identities!!"

Without warning, Sean fell to his knees, the gun still hanging loosely in his hand, but his body to far from where Relena and Wufei were being held to make a grab for it. Sean's voice was desperate and almost terrified sounding, "I panicked, I knew who the pilots were, I knew that they were friends and I knew how loyal you were to your them . . ." To Relena and Wufei's shock, he threw Heero a disgusted look, "Especially him, I knew that you'd do whatever possible to protect him." Sean's voice practically seethed with anger but managed to control himself.

"I knew that if they went ahead with this plan it would result in your death . . . and so I knew that I had to act."

"And so you started sending me those letters and the pictures?" Relena could hardly believe what she was saying.

Sean nodded, "I have to admit that at first I didn't have a clear plan . . ." he raked a hand through his hair, "I sent you that first group of pictures so that you'd know someone was on to you. I had hoped that you would send the pilots away from you, or at least tell them what was happening . . . but you didn't . . . you and Chang decided to keep the situation a secret."

"What did you think that we were going to –"

Sean cut Wufei off as though he hadn't even heard him and continued with his story, "I realized that it was natural that you didn't act after that, you didn't know what you had to respond to. At this point two very important things happened; the first was that after ensuring I could still keep an eye and an ear on my sister and the Cambridge Five, I faked my death . . . I leaked news back through my connections that I had been found out by Preventers and Relena's security detail and subsequently killed in the process of trying to escape when they came to arrest me."

"Secondly, at the same time I began to pay closer attention to you." He pointed at Wufei with his free hand, "I'll spare you the details but it wasn't hard to discover your connections to Keiji." Sean seemed to smile almost to himself, "And I knew what I had to do."

"And then what?" Wufei scoffed at him, "You started to worm your way into Keiji?"

To his surprise Sean simply nodded, "Yes, and I continued my plans from within Keiji once I got there. I knew that I was running out of time. I was now more or less disconnected from my sister and her plans, I had no idea when they were going to move against you. I had to back you into a corner, a started sending more letters and more pictures but still, it wasn't enough."

Relena saw where this was going, "So that's when you broke into my room and took that picture of me. You were trying to back me into a corner."

"I knew that you thought your life was in danger, and indeed you were right." He turned to Wufei, "And I knew that you'd protect her no matter what, you'd hide her in the only place where no one else would be able to find her."

The color seemed to drain out of Wufei's face, he sputtered a bit before he managed to find words, "Th-that was it?! You just hoped that I'd send Relena to Keiji?!" Wufei shook his head in disbelief, "And what would you have done if I didn't?!"

"I would have found another way!!" Sean leapt to his feet and crossed the room to stand over Wufei, "Don't you get it!? I would have done anything to keep you safe! I would have –"

"Then why didn't you just come to me?" Relena's voice was strained with the weight of the information that had just been heaped onto her, "If you were so concerned why didn't you just come to me and tell me that I was in danger?!"

Sean opened his mouth and reeled in Relena's direction, but to Relena's surprise Wufei spoke first, "Because he couldn't, Relena." Sean turned to the Chinese man with a grateful look, as Wufei continued in a bitter sounding voice, "He couldn't because it would have accomplished the Cambridge Five's plans for them. The more people that were aware of the information he held, the higher the likelihood that it would be leaked to the public, and the whole thing would have fallen apart."

Wufei sat up straight and squared his shoulders, his voice was stern and accusatory "So instead you risked her life by betting on a certain pattern of events, events that might not have happened at all."

To both of their surprise, Sean only nodded in agreement, shrugging as though he were sorry, "I know that there were flaws in my plan, things that I couldn't force to happen, but I had a number of alternative plans." He lifted his eyes to meet Relena's, "I would have kidnapped you myself if it came to that."

"But why betray Keiji then?!" Relena practically screamed at him, "Sean, I don't understand, why did you go through all of this trouble to hide me from your sister only to go back to the Oprichniki?!"

Sean looked as though he had been hit over the head with something heavy. He scratched his neck for a moment before taking a step toward her, "Relena, don't you see?" He knelt down in front of her, "Don't you see that the world is changing? That there is no room left for the old regimes?"

Again he reached out to cup her face, "You're our only hope . . ." Relena's eyes widened but Sean did not stop talking, "When this is all over, when the war's finished . . . I did all of this so that you'll be the one here to lead us into the future."

Relena couldn't help it, she choked on the tightness of her throat, pitching forward and almost hitting her own head against Sean's. The man stepped back, clearly startled. He didn't even wait for Relena to stop, "Don't you get it?! Relena, you're the only one who can stop this madness! I had to make sure that you would be safe!"

"So you called the Oprichniki to come and capture me!?"

He jumped to his feet, "You have to understand! Josef is only a pawn of the Cambridge Five! They are using him as figure head!" He grabbed his hair with both hands, "And they will be more than ready to replace him with you! You Relena! Someone who will be more than just a puppet, someone who just by her very presence will force an end to this war! You are the only person who can bring us peace!" He stopped suddenly a smiled almost serenely, "I know this because you've done it before."

Wufei opened his mouth as if to speak, but he was cut off by Sean who was still ranting, "You were Queen Relena, you unified the world into one nation and you can do it again! And I'll be by your side the whole time! Relena, I've already dedicate my life to you, you who are the only person who can save us!"

Relena shook her head, but Sean seemed to anticipate what she was going to say, "The Oprichniki, my sister, the Cambridge Five, none of them will harm you so long as you're with me!"

"Sean . . ." Relena started but faltered for a moment before she found her voice again, "W-why now? Why did you decide to . . ."

"Because!" Sean's outburst startled Relena, sending yet another shiver through her already raw nerves, "Because of SARIELS!! Don't you get it! Josef's getting ready to launch his little doomsday device and he's going to use it to end the war!"

Sean suddenly seized one of the chairs from under Cathal's desk and began smashing it over it's counterpart, screaming as he did so, "That bastard is going to wipe out half the planet with his monstrous machine and no one's going to be able to stop him unless you're there!!"

He threw the chair across the room and it smashed against the fall wall, "Josef is ready and we're not! I had to force you back into the world spotlight!" He turned around to meet Relena's eyes, his expression was pleading for understanding, "I went to the people I knew would keep you safe first."

Relena's heart began to race as the implications of what Sean had just said hit her, "It was you, you were the one that sent those packages to my brother . . . you sent them the data stick with the video . . ."

"Well somebody had to do something!!" Sean shrieked back at them, "I wanted them to come find you! I wanted them to bring you back into the political realm!" His face suddenly contorted into one of disgust and he turned his head to glare at Heero's unconscious form, "But instead they just sent him! He came here and ruined everything!"

Sean took a step in Heero's direction, "He came here and he took you away! He was going to ruin everything! I had to do something!"

"Sean," Relena desperately tried to draw his attention away from Heero, "Sean, I don't . . . why . . ."

"No! Don't chastise me! Don't pretend that this isn't happening, that this isn't possible!"

"It's not!" Wufei barked at Sean, "It's not possible, you are out of your mind! You've destroyed God knows how many lives because you think that a woman who the world believes is dead is the only one fit to rule it!"

"She is!" Sean's voice was desperate, as if he had to convince Wufei of his plan, "I followed her for years! I know everything about her! I know what she is capable of, it why I love her!"

"You're not in love with Relena!" Wufei practically spat at Sean, "You're in love with a sick, idealized, fantasy that you're created to justify your insane actions!"

"Shut up!!"

Relena felt like throwing up and crying at the same time . . . she just couldn't handle this right now . . . everything that had happened . . . all that she had gone through the past five years . . . Sean, it had all be Sean . . . and now this man, this man that she had trusted, that she had believed devoted his life to Keiji . . . he was one of them and he had planned all of this . . .

She was at a loss. It was as though she had had no free will of her own for all these years, Sean had been there pulling the strings the entire time . . . "Th-this can't be . . ."

"What?" Sean challenged her, "This can't be happening? This can't be right?" He suddenly surged forward and seized her by the arms, "This can't be because little Sean Ephailtes couldn't possibly be capable of orchestrating such a dangerous and complex plan?!"

"N-no, be –"

But Relena's protests were drown out by Sean's continued yelling, "You never believed that I was anything! That's why this can't be happening isn't it?!"

"No!" She yelled back. 

"Then why?!"

"Because you weren't the only person involved!" The sheer volume of Relena's voice startled even her. Sean for his part physically recoiled at the tone in her voice, and Relena took the opportunity, "You weren't the only person involved . . . Michael Whitney . . . he came to me . . ."

Sean looked confused for a moment before the light of recognition flashed in his now reddened eyes, "Oh yes, Michael Whitney, the ambitious little Junior Representative." He smiled and shook his head as though chastising a child, "The one that you killed two nights before you disappeared at the ESUN Ball."

Relena closed her eyes, dreading hearing Sean's voice again, but that didn't stop him from talking, "He was nothing more than a pawn, an over eager idiot that I managed to convince to go to you when he had no right or reason to." Sean laughed a bit to himself, "A series of simple suggestions from a stranger that so conveniently happened to frequent the same coffee shop as him and he's banging down the Foreign Minster's door demanding her support."

Sean broke down into laughter again leaving Relena to piece this horrible realization together, "Then he . . . he wasn't . . ."

"No," Sean straightened up, "Michael Whitney was just another piece I needed to convince you that there were people out there looking to hurt you."

"Then why did Keiji demand that I kill him?!" She was beside herself, any pretext of composure now long forgotten.

Sean stared at her for a moment as if to ask if she really needed him to spell this out for her. After a moment he apparently decided that he did, "Because, Relena I suggested to them that you should." He shrugged in a caviler way, "The Suki were apprehensive about accepting you and I had a lose end to tie up. I have to admit that I was surprised that they accepted my proposal to have you kill Michael Whitney but really it makes sense. They, like you, believed him to be in league with the Cambridge Five and so they needed him taken out and I wanted him out of the way so that he couldn't be traced back to me."

Relena felt tears begin to sting her eyes, "So – so you just . . . you had me kill him out of convenience for you?!"

Sean laughed. His voice was unearthly, his eyes contorted into narrow slits as he threw his head back exposing only his neck to a horror struck Relena and Wufei. He laughed as though he had not a care in the world. He laughed and his eyes began to stream with tears. He laughed until he was doubled over, clutching his stomach and still pointing the gun in their direction.

Relena and Wufei exchanged glances, at a complete loss as to what to do now. Sean had clearly lost his mind and any moment now he could stand up and kill all of them. Wufei jerked his head in Sean's direction causing Relena to shake her head. Wufei wanted to try and rush Sean, and while she agreed that they were running out of time, that they had to do something, their arms were still bound behind their backs. Wufei began silently mouthing something to her but before she even had a chance to try and guess what he was saying, a sound from their left stopped both of them.

Heero suddenly lurched on the floor and began coughing, speckles of red liquid splatter the floor in front of him. The sound brought Relena out of her stupor, she felt her eyes grow wide, something in her mind snapped and she leapt to her feet, covering the distance between her and Heero faster than she would have thought possible. Before she knew it she was bent over his still gasping form, his face was contorted with pain, his skin pale and covered in a sheen of sweat. Somewhere behind her, Sean was on his feet again and screaming, but she didn't pay any attention, instead trying to get her arms under her feet so that they would be in front of her.

Heero coughed again, more blood leaking out of the corner of his mouth, there was another voice shouting back at Sean now, it must have been Wufei, but Relena wasn't listening. "Heero," she managed to work her legs through the loop of her arms and reached out to steady his shoulders, "Heero, say something, open your eyes!"

"Relena, damn it, I said –"

There was a yell and in a flash of black Sean was suddenly on his back, Wufei on top of him. He hit the older man once with his still cuffed hands. Sean's head snapped back for a moment and Wufei used the opportunity to grab the collar of his shirt, pulling him up and slamming his head into the ground with a sickening crack. He didn't even pause to look over Sean, he just ripped the gun out of his hand, then patted down his jacket and pants, extracting an extra clip of bullets.

Wufei stood and whipped around to where Relena was still cradling Heero, "Put him down and hold out your hands."

Relena nodded dumbly and complied, Wufei leveled the weapon at the small chain that held the handcuffs together and with a quick pop it was separated. He gracefully flipped the gun around and held it out to Relena who repeated the action. No sooner was he free than Wufei sidestepped Sean's prone form and practically ran to the door, yelling as he went. "Get Heero free," he put his ear to the door, "the Oprichniki could show up any second, we've got to get out of –"

"The monastery." Relena cut him off. She had pulled off her jacket as was wrapping it around Heero's waist. She lifted her head to lock eyes with Wufei, "On the other side of the bridge, there's a monastery, the monks that live there have always provided medical care for us, they'll be able to help him."

"That still poses the problem as to how we're going to actually get out of here." Wufei stepped back from the door and walked toward Relena and glanced down at Heero, "We're not going to be able to move very fast with him –"

She stopped and lifted her head to lock eyes with him, "Wufei, that data stick, the one with the copies we made of Proto's virus, do you still have it?"

Wufei quickly patted his pockets, quickly coming up with the small device that he held out for Relena to see; she snatched the small object and slung the lanyard it was on over her head so that it dangled from her neck, "Wufei, we have to get out of here safely because no matter what this information, the copy of the virus that is on this data stick has to be taken to the next closest Keiji village." She paused and breathed, "If for some reason I don't get out of here, the village is called Guilin, it's in the Guangxi Province, 400 miles east of here."

Wufei nodded, "I understand, Relena –"

Relena cut him off with a deep breath and tried to map out the bunker's seventh level in her mind, "We're in Cathal's workshop," she closed her eyes, "if we go into the hall and turn right, the second door on the left will lead back into the main room."

Wufei shook his head, "We're not going to be able to get out the way we came in, we'll never get Heero through the ventilation system."

Relena nodded, "I know, but we can stop there and make sure that we won't be seen." To Wufei's surprise she bent down to Heero, slinging an arm around his waist, "We'll have to take the most direct root out."

Wufei opened his mouth to ask her what she meant, but Relena cut him off with a wave of her free hand, indicating that she wanted him to lift Heero from the other side. He complied and as they lifted Heero off the ground the Japanese man coughed and opened his eyes. "Relena . . .", he croaked in a voice Relena barely recognized.

She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, she wanted to hold him and do whatever she could to ease the pain he was in . . . but there was no time for that now, "Heero hold on, we're getting out of here."

"Where . . ." Heero's voice faded as they began to cross the room, his feet dragging on the floor a bit as they went. Relena felt Heero's body jerk in her arms and Wufei wrenched the massive steel door opened she turned around to see what he had bumped into. Her breath caught in her throat as Sean rolled onto his side, his face bloodied and a pained expression on his face, he extended an arm out in her direction as though pleading with her.

"Relena . . ." the rest of what he said was drown out by Wufei pushing the door open. Their eyes met for just a moment and Relena could not say exactly what it was that transpired between them in that brief instant . . . but she pushed it out of her mind as she closed her eyes and stepped out into the hallway.

The light almost blinded her, but she quickly reoriented herself and took a couple of quick steps to keep up with Wufei, who was frantically scanning the hall. Finding nothing they continued on, quickly coming up on the door to the seventh floor's main room. Again Wufei pulled the door open and slipped inside, bringing Relena and Heero behind him.

The room was dark but even with almost no light Relena could tell that it had been left exactly as it was when they were in there less than two hours ago. She turned to Wufei, "Put him down for a minute," they set Heero on the ground, but to Wufei's surprise, Relena did not immediately check Heero, "stay here, make sure that there's enough pressure on his wounds."

Relena set off to the back of the room, not even giving Wufei a chance to ask where she was going before she disappeared into a small side room. Wufei knelt down next to Heero; his chest was heaving but his breathing was shallow, "Heero, can hear me?"

The man mumbled in response indicating that he was conscious but barely able to speak. Wufei gently rolled him on to his back, "Heero, we're going to take you to the monastery, just try not to move –"

Wufei stopped at the sound of movement from the back of the room; Relena emerged from darkness carrying two bags. As she approached she slung the larger of the two onto her back, the other she held out to Wufei. Before he even had the opportunity to ask what was in it, Relena was already hauling Heero to his feet again, "Here's the plan," Wufei followed suit and lifted Heero's arm over his own shoulder, "we'll make a break for the elevator –"

Wufei could hardly believe what he was hearing, "Relena, we've got one gun, what do you plan to do if we run into Oprichniki agents?"

She started back for the door, making Wufei follow her, "That's what that bag is for," she indicated the one he had thrown over his arm, "there are about a dozen grenades in there." Relena locked eyes with Wufei, "We're going to blast our way out of here if we have to. They already know that we're here, there's no point in trying to be sneaky."

"And then what?" Wufei wanted to know what they were doing before they stepped back out into the line of fire.

"The elevator's right down the hall from here, we'll get in, punch in my code, and get up to the top floor. It's a pretty straight shot to the outside from there."

"And once we're completely exposed?"

"Remember all those jeeps we saw out there from the cliff before?" Relena put her hand on the door handle, "We're going to grab one of those and make a break for it."

Wufei shook his head and took a deep breath; he'd gotten out of tighter spots before . . . but with Heero serving as little more than dead weight . . . "Alright," he pushed the door open, flooding the room with light, "I guess that's the best we're going to get."

Relena nodded and they both ducked out into the hall, jerking to the right and sprinting down the hallway as fast as they possibly could and after a short distance they rounded the last corner and skidded to a halt in front of the elevator. Relena punched the 'UP' button with her fist and tried to steady her breathing as she waited for the elevator to arrive and the doors to open.

Wufei suddenly lifted his head straight up, a moment later she heard it as well: footsteps, coming their way. Wufei reached into the bag he was holding and produced a grenade. The footsteps grew closer while behind them Relena heard the elevator reach their floor and the doors begin to slide open.

Without warning, all hell broke loose. Wufei stepped in front of Relena and Heero, lobbing a grenade around the corner while at the same moment the elevator doors opened. Relena pulled Heero backwards into the cabin, trying to shield him just as an explosion rocked the walls around them. Dust and pieces of the ceiling fell all around them and gunfire broke out the air, drown out only by the screams now coming from the direction of the explosion. Before Relena even had a chance to attempt to assess what had just happened, Wufei appeared from the cloud of smoke, ducking inside the elevator and shoving Relena out of the way to punch the button for the first floor with the side of his fist. The doors slid shut and Relena stepped forward to scan her fingers and eyes for the computer.

With a jolt the elevator began its ascent and Wufei immediately pulled open the door for the service cabinet, reaching inside and pulling out a handful of electrical wires. "That should keep them from stopping us on another floor."

Relena nodded and Wufei couldn't help but notice how pale she looked. He couldn't even begin to comprehend what must have been going through her mind at that moment . . . if it was one-tenth of what was going through his . . . but they didn't have time to think about that right now, "When the doors start to open get off to the side of the elevator, there's a good chance that they'll be waiting for us –"

Wufei didn't need to finish his sentence. Even as they approached the first floor they could here the footsteps and the voices of men shouting back and forth to each other. Wufei let go of Heero and Relena pulled him to the side of the car. The doors had barely opened a crack before Wufei lobbed another two grenades through the door and then threw himself on the floor. The explosion came seconds later, practically blowing the elevator doors right off.

But they didn't have time to stop for even a moment; Wufei was on his feet again almost immediately, pulling Relena and Heero up and stepping over the wreckage into the hall. There were bodies strewn across the floor, but Relena could not allow herself to get caught up in the scene around her. More footsteps were coming up behind them, and they had barely cleared the end of the hall before the gunshots rang out behind them.

Relena instinctively ducked her head as they rounded a corner and started down the hall that would lead them to the door outside. Relena dared a glance in Heero's direction; he was completely unconscious now, his head lolled to one side presenting her with a clear view of the blood that was still trickling out of his mouth. He looked . . . no, no she couldn't think like that. They would get him to the monastery, he would be alr –

"Lena, I said get down!"

Relena hardly heard Wufei as she reacted by pitching herself and Heero forward, feeling the force of the explosion rip over her head as she connected with the floor. Now sooner had she lifted her head than Wufei was on his feet again, lifting Heero up again and waiting for Relena to do so before they started through the hole in the wall Wufei had just created. They burst into the sunlight of the grove around the hidden entrance, a series of twisted, burning hunks of metal surrounded them.

She spun her head to face Wufei, "Are you insane?! You blew up all of the jeeps and you almost killed us!"

Wufei wasn't really listening, his was surveying the wreckage around them, "There's on towards the back that's okay, let's go!" He started forward, expertly navigating their way the flaming debris until they came to the jeep he had indicated. Wufei stopped and swung his free arm under Heero and lifted him into the back of the jeep before turning to Relena, "Check his wounds again –"

"No," Relena cut him off as she pushed him aside and swung herself into the driver's seat, "you don't know where you're going." she reached under the steering column and pulled out several wires. She touched the tips of two of them together and the jeep's engine sparked to life.

Wufei glanced over his shoulder just in time to see several men in blue uniforms emerge from what had previously been a door. "Shit, Relena go!" He jumped into the back of the jeep as Relena shifted the car into gear and floored it, a hail of gunfire following after them as she pulled the vehicle into a sharp turn and onto the somewhat overgrown jungle road.

The road in front of them was rapidly disappearing under the jeep's tires and Relena was fighting to keep control of the vehicle as it bumped and jerked over the uneven, rarely used road, "Wufei, how is he?"

"He's lost a lot of blood," the Chinese man shouted back to her over the sound of the wind lashing at them, "Relena, the Oprichniki are going to be right behind us –"

"I know!" she yelled back, "Listen, I'm going to stop the jeep just before the bridge, we'll weight the gas peddle and send the jeep down the hill. Hopefully they'll follow that and buy us at least a few minutes." 

"That won't stop them from following us to the monastery after they figure out that we're not in the jeep!"

"That's what my backpack is for." She jolted in her seat as they hit a particularly rocky section of the trail, "It's got six blocks of C-4 and a remote detonating system in it. We're going to set the C-4 on the village side of the bridge, get across, and blow it up once we've reached the other side."

"And by the time they figure out a way across we'll already be to the monastery." Wufei finished for her.

Relena nodded, mostly to herself, "Keep pressure on Heero's wounds." she shouted back to him as they broke into the clearing and Relena spun the jeep into a stop, practically throwing Wufei from his seat.

She threw the jeep into park, jumped out and began scanning the area for a large rock, quickly finding one and lifting it into the driver's seat. Relena jumped into the back of the jeep, grabbing Heero's feet and helping Wufei lift him out of the vehicle onto the ground. Once Heero was set on the floor, she reached behind her, snatching up her backpack and handing that to Wufei as well.

"Relena –" Relena ignored whatever Wufei was about to say to her and scrambled back into the front seat. Shifting the jeep back into drive and pulling it right to the edge of the clearing, Relena put her foot on the break and pushed the rock off the seat, using her free foot to maneuver it onto the gas peddle. The engine revved and roared; Relena took a deep breath and threw herself to the left, barely clearing the edge of the vehicle as it lurched forward and took off into the jungle undergrowth.

She hit the ground hard, the pain resonating into her chest but hauled herself to her feet and set off to where Wufei was readjusting Heero's makeshift bandages. As she approached he looked as though he was going to scold her, but a groan from Heero silenced anything either of them might have said. Without a word she bent down to grab Heero's arm, Wufei doing the same. They lifted Heero, now barely conscious, to his feet and set off towards the bridge.

Relena's heart was racing so fast she could no longer feel the individual beats, her eyesight was blurry, her head was swimming, her limbs were almost numb save for her right arm, which was burning with a hot, sticky liquid. She dared to glance down at it; blood soaked the entire length of her sleeve. Her eyes continued to travel down to where her hand clutched at Heero's shirt, his entire left side was stained a deep crimson which had drenched the fabric of her jacket, causing the material to cling to her skin.

Somewhere off in the distance she heard the jeep plowing its way through the jungle brush, but that too faded away until all that was left was the blood pounding in her ears and Heero's increasingly ragged breath. Wufei was quickening their speed; she looked up and saw the bridge emerging from the tangle of trees before them.

They burst through the tall grass and into the clearing that surrounded the entrance to the small bridge. Both she and Wufei stopped simultaneously, the Chinese man pausing to transfer the rest of Heero's weight to Relena before kneeling down to swing the rucksack from his back. He began frantically pulling out various pieces of equipment and six brick-sized blocks of C-4 from the bag, depositing them on the ground next to him.

Relena tried to calm herself as she looked next to her, where Heero was draped against her side. She did her best to control her reaction, but could not help herself; his face had gone completely ashen, sweat glistened on his forehead, and he his breathing was becoming shallow. He lifted his head to glance up to her and immediately saw the concern in her face.

"You need . . . they're going to catch up . . . just go without me and – "

"Don't you dare suggest that we leave you here." Her voice came out sounding sharper than she had meant it to. "If you think for a second that I'd just – "

"Relena," Wufei interrupted her, "get Heero across the bridge, and as far down the path as you can. I'll set these charges and catch up with you."

Relena drew in a breath, "You're going to have to take him across, I can't carry him fast enough by myself."

Wufei lifted his head to meet her eyes, but she cut him off before he could protest, "Don't argue with me, you know that I'm right." She took a step towards him, before he even realized what he was doing Wufei was swinging Heero's arm over his shoulders as Relena knelt down next to the tools and explosives he had just removed from the backpack. "Get across and go for the monastery, I'll set the charges, get across the bridge, detonate them by remote from the other side and be right behind you –"

Something like a low growl came from Heero, "Both of you just go . . . leave me with a gun, I'll hold them off for as long –"

But even as he finished speaking Wufei had started moving toward the bridge, casting him a look somewhere between disbelief and disgust, "It's not gonna happen Yuy, so just shut up."

"Wufei!"

He turned just before stepping out on to the wooden structure as Relena ran towards him, yanking at something around her neck as she went. She pressed it into his free hand and he immediately recognized it as the data stick they had taken from the Shitou Base that contained a copy of the virus Proto had created to take down SARIELS. The look in her eyes was as hard as steel, "No matter what, this has to get to Guilin."

He nodded and set out across the bridge, the sounds of Relena mounting C4 to the wood behind them fading as he moved across the bridge as quickly as his current weight would allow, trying to ignore Heero's protests as they went.

"Don't . . . don't leave her there –"

"She's right behind us Heero."

"Wufei, please . . ." he voice sounded strained and weak to say the least, but Wufei attempted to push it out of him mind, knowing that if he listened to his friend's pleading he'd force himself to go back or wait for Relena, putting them all in even more danger.

The end of the bridge was just ahead of them; they crossed it and Wufei turned to continue on into the forest, but Heero suddenly dug his heels into the ground, causing Wufei to lose his grip on the Japanese man, who fell to the ground, bringing Wufei down with him. Immediately he was back on his feet and rounded on Heero, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

He lifted his head and barely managed to gasp, "Relena . . ."

Wufei closed his eyes as he knelt down to pick up Heero, trying to remain calm as he hauled the both of them to their feet, and spinning around so that Heero could see Relena was fine before they –

His heart caught in his throat and he nearly choked on his own breath.

Five or so men, each wearing blue uniforms had made their way onto the bridge, the farthest one out having got a little less than half way before he had stopped. Pinned against his chest was a pale Relena with a large hand gun pressed against her temple. Behind them another twenty or so stood gathered around the bridge entrance, waiting for their orders.

Heero coughed beside him and again croaked out Relena's name. Unconsciously, Wufei set the bleeding man on the ground next to him, before taking a cautious step towards the bridge.

"Dhat iz far enough Preventor." The man in the front shouted at him; Wufei recognized him immediately as the man they had seen in the Shitou Base control room. Whoever he was, he was clearly in charge of this little operation.

He jerked Relena closer to him, his finger inching over the trigger, "Now, I vant vhat you are carrying dhere. I do not believe I must tell you vhat the consequences vill be if you do not hand it over."

Wufei's mind was racing, trying to come up with anyway possible to get them out of this situation, "We don't have anything that you would want."

The man snorted and pressed the gun harder into the side of Relena's face, "I am not in dhe mood for your bullshit, Preventor. You give me dhe encrypted data dhat you downloaded from dhe main server before dhe three of you escaped and killed zeven of my men!"

Wufei took another cautious step forward; they were at a total disadvantage here with not one aspect of the situation in their favor. Relena was too far out on the bridge for him to even try to get to her and even if he could, his gun was tucked away in his jacket; they'd shoot him dead before he even got it out. Heero was bleeding to death on the ground behind him, weakly begging him to somehow get Relena and leave.

"I am vaiting!"

Wufei's head snapped back up to where this Oprichniki officer was clutching Relena as though his life depended on it. Her back was pressed against his front, one arm wrapped around her midsection, pinning her arms at her side. She looked worried, but he knew immediately it was not for herself. Heero would die if he didn't receive medical attention within an half and hour and the code he was carrying had to be deciphered and taken to - - - -. He scanned Relena quickly; she didn't have any visible weapons on her, but her right hand was clutched around something that he couldn't see entirely. He had to keep this man talking, buy them as much time as they could get, whatever Relena was holding, it had to be a weapon of some sort and maybe it would be enough for them to get away.

"I told you, we don't have anything. We had to leave before we could decrypt and copy the file." He leveled his eyes at Relena, trying to signal to her to act on whatever she was planning, but she did not react or even meet his gaze.

"You lie!"

Wufei shook his head at a complete loss; behind him Heero was trying to lift himself up. The Chinese man turned to tell him to lie still, but it appeared that Heero could not stand anyway. His face had lost all its color; for the first time Wufei could ever remember his friend looked panicked and stricken. He met Wufei's eyes, the blue depths silently begging with him to do something, anything to save her.

Now frantic, Wufei looked back to Relena, who was still staring at the ground in front of her. "We don't have it!" he shouted back at the man, "I can't –"

"I zee you have made your decizion dhen."

"No, wait –"

Wufei's words died on his lips as Relena finally lifted her head to meet his eyes, a pained expression on her face, and turned over her hand to reveal what she was holding in it.

He barely had time to register that it was the C4 detonation switch before she pressed the trigger.


	21. Scars

Greetings all,

Alright, I'm not dead. I know that after going MIA for like 8 months in some states or could be declared legally dead . . . or at least get the paperwork started to make it so. I cannot apologize enough for just leaving everyone hanging like that at the end of Chapter 20. The good news is that now I am finished with graduate school, (yay!) and so I should have more time to write. I sat down and mapped out the rest of the story and by my best guesses, we're looking at about five or six more chapters of Occam's Razor – I'll keep everyone updated on that, but yes, the end is in sight and I swear that I am going to finish this story.

Because it has been so long since I last updated, I've filled my profile page with information about the story. There are some character profiles and a rehashing of the previous events of the story – it's long, but probably worth a skim. Also, for some reason the lines that I put in to separate the sections of dialogue do not appear to be showing up in my profile, so I apologize if it is hard to follow. One final thing, then I swear that I'll shut up – When I post Chapter 22, (hopefully in a few weeks), I'll be taking down the "Previously on Occam's Razor" section in my profile and replacing it with a very detailed time line of the story.

Thank you once again to everyone who has stuck with me for so long through this story and my prolonged absence. Thank you so much for all of the reviews and the support. I hope that this story will continue to interest, entertain, and surprise. Thank you again.

Occam's Razor

Chapter 21 - Scars

Tynan

- - - - -

_He pushed hard against the heavy door and it scrapped across the floor in protest. Finally widening it enough, he squeezed himself through the opening and entered the dimly lit room, Ling following close behind him. The room was sparsely furnished; a handful of chairs were clustered around a scrubbed wooden table that sat on a dirt floor. The windows were boarded shut with planks of wood that had obviously been installed mere hours before he arrived and the only other door was bolted shut with several shiny, heavy looking locks. _

_Wufei blinked and let his eyes adjust to the room's darkness. Behind him, he could hear Ling struggling to close the door they had just come through. He waited for her to finish, knowing any help he might offer would be harshly refused. Finally he heard a metal latch slip into place and turned to face his guide._

"_Well?" Wufei tried to keep the annoyance he was feeling out of his voice, but was probably not all that successful. His itinerary had been completely altered by Ling at the last moment without any explanation. It wasn't that he didn't trust the young woman, but he had important business with Kimi of Shitou and before his trip was over he wanted to check on Relena and see how she was doing in her new role as Kimi's Political Advisor. _

_He shook his head at that thought – no, it was not a new role; Relena had been Kimi's Political Advisor for a year now, ever since David Trotsky had disappeared. Despite this, he couldn't help his protective feelings toward Relena. It had been his idea to send her to Keiji and so her safety was his responsibility . . . and serving as one of Kimi's Suki was definitely not safe. However, it was her choice to make and he was certainly in no position to tell her to do otherwise . . . not that she would listen to him regardless._

_But getting back to the issue at hand, Ling had changed their route about a third of the way through the journey and would not say why. Instead of going to Shitou, they had veered off course by what Wufei's best guess was at least a thousand miles and ended up somewhere along the India-China border. They had hiked to the top of a mountain only to come to what to an outsider would have looked like a long abandoned monastery. Inside however, the building looking more like a small fortress than a peaceful spiritual retreat._

_Ling set her backpack on the floor and turned toward him. "Well what? I told you –"_

"_No, you didn't tell me anything." There was no stopping the sudden anger he was feeling from creeping into his voice now. He let his backpack fall off of his shoulders and spun around to face Ling, "I'm not an idiot, Ling. Something is going on, now are you going to tell me what it is and why you brought me all the way out here or are you going to make me guess?"_

_To his surprise, Ling's lips quirked into smirk, "Please, by all means, take a guess." Her smirk widened and she leaned in closer to him, when she spoke her voice was dangerous, "Because believe me, you will never see this one coming."_

_Wufei recoiled from her suddenly disturbing expression, but before he could ask what she meant by all of this, the door they had entered though was thrown open. Neither of them even had to look up to know who was coming through first; only Liam Blair was capable of tossing aside the nearly hundred pound door as if it were a toothpick. Said door slammed into the stone wall behind it with a deafening bang that sent a shutter through the rest of the room causing decades worth of dust to fall from the rafters._

_The massive man smiled sheepishly, but before he could even open his mouth to apologize – _

"_Liam!" Erin Shannon materialized from behind him and promptly smacked the back of his head, "This buildin' is almost 900 years old! You're goin' to brin' the whole place down around our 'eads!"_

_Beside him Ling laughed before stepping forward to welcome Erin and Liam. Wufei however, stood rooted to the floor, "I really hope that you have something more important to show me than just Liam and Erin, Ling."_

"_Hey!" Erin and Liam responded in unison, the former however crossed the room to leer at him from closer, "An' 'ere I was happy to see you."_

"_Actually," a curt voice with a vague Japanese accent came from the door and Wufei spun around to meet it without even thinking, "Ling has something very important to share with you, Chang-san." Motoko Ishii walked gracefully into the room, her jet black hair swaying around her chin as she settled into one of the chairs. To Wufei's great surprise, she smiled gently at him, "You may want to have a seat."_

_His suspicion was immediately peaked and he ran through the list of nightmare scenarios that might have happened. "What's going on?"_

"_You really should sit down Wufei," his head shot toward the door yet again, immediately recognizing the voice. Relena entered flanked by three other men; two he recognized, one he did not. Cathal McGowan hadn't changed since Wufei had first met him over two years ago – his blonde hair still hung in a mess of curls around his pale face which bore his usual expression of mild interest balanced with being lost in his own thoughts. Beside him stood Ryo Aramaki, who Wufei had met only once before in Guilin where he served as Okisho's Political Advisor. He had aged somewhat in those three years, but he still bore a dignified appearance. The third man was clearly Asian, in his late teens, early twenties with boyish, but handsome features. He looked around the room in an uncertain way, as if he wasn't sure that he was supposed to be here._

_But Wufei's attention quickly turned back to the young woman standing between them. Relena smiled at him and stepped forward to give him a short hug. "It's good to see you, Wufei." She smiled again and took a seat, indicating that he should sit too. Not knowing what else to do, he did, all the while taking mental inventory of the situation. Of Kimi's seven Suki members, four of them, Relena, Motoko, Cathal, and Liam, were all here. Ryo and Erin were high standing members in Keiji as well . . . something significant had clearly taken place._

"_Wufei," Relena began after a moment, "Wufei, Jiang died."_

_He felt his breath catch in his chest and without thinking whipped his head back toward Ling, immediately wishing that he hadn't. The young woman's face betrayed no emotion, but her eyes were beginning to turn red and water. He wrenched his gaze back toward Relena, leaving the Keiji guide to silently mourn her father. "H-how . . ."_

"_It was a stroke," Relena answered softly. Her own eyes were also beginning to tear now, but she maintained her composure. "He went peacefully a few days after," she bowed her head and the rest of the people in the room followed suit._

_Wufei shook his head, still reeling from the information. Kimi, THE KIMI, of Shitou had died . . . of a stroke. "So . . . so who . . .?"_

_An arm suddenly draped itself around his should, and Erin's hand twisted his head to face Relena, "You're looking at her."_

_The bottom dropped out of his stomach. A thousand thoughts suddenly flooded his brain while his heart fluttered into a near panic. This couldn't be right, they had to be lying or pulling some kind of a sick joke. Jiang had known who Relena was, he had promised to keep her safe, why in God's name would he make her Kimi and essentially put a target between her eyes? He closed his eyes and tried to clear his head but could not. In a final, last desperate attempt to dispel the utter nonsense Erin had just relayed to him, he opened his eyes again and found Relena's._

_Their gazes locked for a moment when, after a moment she closed her eyes and nodded, confirming the new role she was to play in the war . . . _

- - - - -

Wufei reacted without thinking. He threw himself on top of Heero, the deafening explosion roaring over him even as he landed. He felt a wave of heat roll across his back and his teeth rattled in his skull. The shockwave hit them not a second later, tossing he and Heero backward a few feet; Wufei locked an arm around Heero's shoulders and shielded him as best he could as they were pushed from the bridge.

Finally, they stopped after what seemed like far longer than fraction of the second they had been in motion. Wufei had barely come to a rest before leaping to his feet. Dust clouded the air around him forcing him to pause and gain his bearings. He looked down; Heero was completely unconsciousness, dust was caked on top of the blood that clung to his clothing.

Over the ringing in his ears, Wufei barely heard a noise to his left, and spun his head in its direction. The sound was suddenly drown out by another, louder one, which was joined by several other, similar noises. Around him the dust slowly began to settle and he could barely make out the scene before him. There was a horrible smell in the air, one he unfortunately recognized as chemicals and burned flesh. The noises grew louder, desperate, and more painful sounding. He closed his eyes, shook his head, and tried to refocus his vision as it suddenly occurred to him that he must have hit his head on the ground diving for cover.

When he opened them again, the air had cleared enough for him to survey the area around him. All that was left of the bridge extended about 5 feet out in front of him; the rest had been completely blown away by the explosion. On the other side, a large chunk of the cliff was missing, and all around the gap a dozen or so Oprichniki soldiers lay dead or dying, their limbs and entrails strewn around them. Those still alive groaned in a lifeless sort of way, apparently too close to death to scream.

Wufei tore his gaze from them and looked back to where the bridge had been seconds before. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders back before extending one leg onto the remains of the bridge. It held and he edged out further, finally coming to the end of it. Wufei craned his neck over the end of the bridge and looked down. The mist from the waterfall obscured his vision, the only indication that there was a river at the bottom of the ravine came from the sound of it churning through the rocks below.

There was no sign of her. There were with no sounds coming from the river, no indication that she had survived the fall. Wufei found himself suddenly overwhelmed. Could Relena possibly have survived? Should he look for her? No, he had to take Heero to the monastery, he was bleeding to death on the floor behind him. Wufei spared him a glance – Heero looked as though he might not make it. What if he died here? What if he died at the monastery? What if Relena was still alive and needed help? What if she died while he was bringing Heero to the monastery? Relena might be the only member of the Shitou branch of Keiji still alive – didn't have to do everything to ensure that Kimi of Shitou survived? Could he sacrifice Heero on the chance that Relena might be alive? Isn't that what Heero would want him to do?

No. No, he couldn't do this, he couldn't panic. Wufei jumped from the bridge back on to the cliff. Heero was here, he was alive, he had to get him medical attention as quickly as possible. Relena had sacrificed herself so that they could escape, he was honor-bound to do everything in his power to see her wishes carried out. He stole one more glance over the edge of the destroyed bridge and tried to reassure himself. Relena had been on the bridge, the explosion had taken place well behind her, and she had been shielded by at least ten men. If she had survived the fall, there was a good chance that she was still alive . . .

He told himself this as he swung Heero's limp body over his shoulder. Heero groaned and Wufei felt him try to lift his head.

"Relena . . ."

Wufei felt his throat close shut. He couldn't answer, what was there to say? But before he could even try and respond, Heero slumped against his back with a soft moan.

- - - - -

_Large, brightly colored lanterns were strung across the massive ceiling between the glittering chandeliers, below them tuxedo and gown clad men and women talked, drank, and danced to the serene notes of one of New Delhi's traditional music groups. The night sky was easily visible from the rooms many floor to ceiling windows. He watched her among them, smiling, laughing, charming her way into the heart of anyone who crossed her path. As she was led to the dance floor by one of the older dignitaries she caught his eye casting him a genuine smile. _

_The lights flickered and everything went black, there was screaming, and then a noise like thunder and he was nearly knocked over. A sinister red glow and a thick cloud of black smoke filled the room. He felt his heart begin to race, as he began to look around the dark room but could see nothing; in the back of his head he could hear gun shots and renewed screams, but none of that mattered, he was only listening for one thing. _

"_Heero!"_

_He sprinted forward, searching for any sign of her. All around him people were screaming and bleeding, gun fire barely audible over the chaos. He scanned the sea of people frantically, finally spotting her and moving faster than even he realized he could, pushed his way through the panicked crowd._

_She turned just in time to catch his eye and tried to move toward him . . . not seeing the masked men advancing upon her from behind. He drew his gun and took aim, but the crowd was pushing from every direction and the risk of hitting her was too great. _

_He continued forward, he was almost there, her arm stretched out to meet his . . ._

_A single gunshot shattered the air, blood splattered his vision and slowly she slipped from his eyes . . ._

"_Heero!"_

_Amidst the chaos around him, the world narrowed to only his range of senses. Footsteps rushed over to him and he opened his eyes to find Relena standing over him, her expression panicked. _

"_Heero, oh God!" Her voice was panicked. She dropped to her knees, pulled her shawl from her shoulders, and pressed it against the right side of his chest sending a sharp pain through his whole body. He looked down, shocked to find Relena ripping off his black jacket and his shirt soaked with blood. There was a renewed throb of pain and he jerked in response._

"_Heero, can you stand?" She put her hand under the crook of his shoulder, "We have to go."_

_Her voice pulled him out of his daze and instantly back to their surroundings. Without a moment's hesitation he was on his feet and had seized Relena by the wrist. He ignored the sudden lightheadedness that swept over him and scanned the room. It was chaos – the gunmen were shooting, mostly over the heads of the crowd, but bodies still littered the floor. The gunmen weren't aiming to kill, they were pushing everyone toward the middle of the ball room, blocking off the exits . . . they were taking hostages._

_He couldn't see a way out; there was too much panic, too much risk of something happening to Relena. The gunmen were everywhere now, closing in on all sides. He glanced down at Relena, the worry in her face was evident. He pushed her behind him, "No matter what happens, stay next to me."_

_She nodded into his shoulder. A moment later a particularly loud blast of gunfire quieted the mass of people. The man holding the gun, a large automatic rifle, stepped into middle of the room and pulled off the black mask he was wearing revealing a man of around thirty years old with olive skin and dark hair._

"_Thank you," he let the rifle fall to his side, "now that I have everyone's attention, let's get down to business."_

"_Keep head down, Relena, don't let them see your face," Heero's head whipped to his left where Sally appeared from the crowd. "If they're taking hostages, you'd be the perfect one."_

_Heero gritted his teeth, Sally was right, these men would come straight for Relena if they found her. He looked around, there were easily two hundred people in the cluster they were standing in. Another four clusters dotted the ball room, each of comparable size. The gunmen were making their way through them, sorting the people they encountered into two groups; it took Heero only a moment to realize that the ESUN members were being separated from everyone else._

_Five of the men approached their group and immediately began pushing their way through the throngs of terrified people. The most of the Preventers within the crowd were in uniform, but some, like he, Sally, and Wufei were in tuxedoes and ball gowns, security meant to blend in with the representatives and dignitaries. But none the less, these men knew exactly who the ESUN members were and separated them from the rest of the guests._

_They were getting closer to them now; the crowd in front of them thinned until Heero could look straight at two of the men. Heero locked eyes with one of the men for just a moment, but in that moment, the gunmen had made him for a Preventer. He reached straight for his wounded shoulder and prepared to shove him out of the way; Heero winced in pain but countered the man, wrenching his wrist back until their was a snapping sound and the man yelped in pain. Relena gasped behind him, but Sally held her in place._

_In seconds, the other gunman was there in an instant, pointing a gun at him and looking at his comrade on the floor. "Shit Jack, one guy who's been shot is too much for you?"_

_Jack leapt to his feet, still cradling his broken wrist and shoved his pistol against Heero's forehead, "You son of bitch, you want to play the hero? You know what happens to heroes?" He clicked back the hammer but before he could pull the trigger –_

"_Heero!" Relena wrenched herself away from Sally and stepped in front of him. Jack jerked in surprise and the bullet whizzed past Heero's temple. Sally's arm shot out to pull Relena back, but it was already too late._

"_Well, well," Jack's partner advanced on them, ignoring Heero this time and going straight for Relena, "if it isn't the former Queen of the World."_

"_Don't touch her!" but Heero's command was drowned out by another burst of gunfire. All heads turned back to the man in the middle of the room; in front of him were ten people lined up with their hands tied behind their back and forced into a kneeling position. It took only one glance for Heero to realize all of them were ESUN officials, one of them was Joshua Bartlett . . . the Foreign Minister._

_The man with the rifle, clearly the leader of this group, used it to signal to his men, and ten of them instantly came to the middle of the dance floor and stood behind one of the hostages. Their leader turned back to face the mass of his prisoners._

"_We are the Alliance of Revolutionary Forces," he slowly spun himself around as he spoke so that he could address all gathered, "we reject the authority of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation and deem all those who work to propagate this unjust system to be enemies of the people they claim to represent. We demand the immediate dissolution of ESUN and all of its subsidiary organizations."_

_He waved his hand and the ten gunman drew pistols and pressed them against the back of the ESUN member's heads. "Until our demands are met, we will kill ten members of this oppressive regime every hour, on the hour. Starting right now."_

_With those words the gunmen pulled their triggers and the ten ESUN members fell to the floor in mess of blood and brain matter. Screams erupted from the crowds; behind him Relena choked back a gasp and put a hand on Sally's shoulder to steady herself, "Joshua . . ."_

_The gunman standing next to them sneered, "Looks like you just got promoted."_

_He reached for Relena again but more gunfire interrupted him and their leader began barking more orders, "No one is to try any grand escape plans or misguided attempts at heroics. We have take precautions against such actions," he waved around the room to the various doors that dotted the perimeter of the ballroom, "my men have set each of these doors with explosives, any attempt to open them will detonate the bombs and –"_

_A noise came from the far corner of the ballroom and the leader of the Alliance of Revolutionary Forces stopped mid-sentence to look toward the scuffle. Heero craned his head around the two gunmen in front of him, but could not see what was going on. There was shouting, the sounds of a struggle, and suddenly a woman broke away from the group and dashed toward the doors. Hostages and terrorists alike yelled for her to stop, but she more than likely could not even hear them over her own screams. Heero's eyes widened as she reached the doors and yanked them open._

_All hell broke loose._

_Heero pulled Relena to the ground rolling them so that they were against a wall; Sally came down on top of them as the bomb on the door exploded, sending glass and debris through the air like shrapnel. Renewed screams and gunfire made it impossible for him to hear anything. When he lifted his head he found chaos. The gunmen had begun shooting indiscriminately, their victims littered the floor._

_Heero scanned the area around them; it was now or never. He sat himself up as quickly as he could so that his back was against the wall; the blood rushed from his head and he quickly realized that his injuries were far worse than he had initially assumed. But that did matter now. He hauled Relena to her feet, her face was streaked with tears and stricken with worry. Heero drew his gun and turned to Sally, "Take her, I'll cover you."_

_Sally nodded and seized Relena's wrist, she pointed to one of the ballroom's marble pillars, about twenty feet away, "We're going there, then we'll figure out our next mo –"_

"_Go now!" Heero shouted over her, suddenly gripped by desperation. Jack had spotted them and ignoring the battle taking place around him, he was coming straight for them._

_Relena started to protest, but Sally pulled her away before Heero could hear any of the words. Jack drew his weapon and began shooting giving Heero barely enough time to dive behind one of the overturned tables. There were too many people here, he couldn't risk hitting one of the civilians, he had to wait for Jack to get closer –_

_The wood above his head exploded. Heero took a breath to steady himself and stood, immediately finding Jack and squeezing the trigger. Jack threw himself behind a chair but not before one of Heero's bullets lodged itself in his thigh. He heard the man yell in pain, giving Heero a better idea of where he was. He couldn't wait for Jack to make a move again, he had to act._

_He covered the ground between them faster than he even realized was possible and seconds later found himself standing over Jack. The man reacted faster than Heero thought he would with a broke wrist. He raised his gun and pulled the trigger at the exact moment Heero kicked it out of his hand. There was sharp pain and the familiar feeling of blood on his skin. Heero lost his balance and Jack was on top of him. He fist connected with Heero's head, disorienting for a moment, but just enough time for Jack to lift his hand and slam it into the floor. Heero lost his grip on the gun and it skidded across the floor, leaving both of them without a weapon._

_Heero brought his uninjured leg up and forced Jack off of him. The other man fell backwards and when he stood he was brandishing what looked like a chair leg. Heero barely dodged his first swing and connected hard with the floor. He lifted his head and spotted his gun, just out of reach. He heard Jack approaching behind him, his head was swimming from blood loss and his vision was getting blurry. He lunged for the gun and felt his finger tips wrap around it._

_Heero rolled to his feet, gun stretched in front of him . . . but Jack was no where to be seen. There was a noise behind him but as soon as he heard it, he knew it was already too late. Pain radiated from the side of his head and light flashed before his eyes. Heero stumbled, but could not right himself fast enough to stop Jack from hitting him another time._

_With the second blow, his mind went blank and he felt himself fall to his knees. He fought to stay conscious, barely aware of the fact that someone had taken his gun from his hand. Moments later he heard it being cocked back. His legs would not move, his arms would not react, his eyes refused to stay open. This was it . . ._

'_But Relena is safe . . .' he thought to himself._

_The gunshot rang out over the noise of the chaos and a hot, sticky liquid splattered his face . . . but there was no pain, there was just a whimper. He opened his eyes and something fell against him. Heero tried to focus his vision and looked down. His breath left his chest and he nearly choked._

_Relena's unconscious body was slumped against his chest. She her face was white, she was bleeding, there was so much blood. A clicking noise from in front of him caused him to lift his head; Jack was reloading the gun, now he was leveling it at them. Heero screamed at his body to work, to do something, anything, but as he tried to stand he only fell, taking Relena with him._

_The world began to grow dark; Jack sneered and followed him with the gun. Another shot broke the air and the side of Jack's head exploded and he fell to the floor. Someone was rolling him on to his back, Relena's weight left his lap. He forced his head to look in her direction. Sally was bent over her, her hands pressed against the wound in Relena's chest . . . there was so much blood._

_Everything turned black as Sally desperately screamed for medical team._

- - - - -

Wufei took a deep breath and started up the last set of stairs. They were almost there, at the top of these stairs the monks would help them. Wufei glanced down to Heero, he couldn't even tell if he was breathing anymore, but he didn't have time to check . . . they were almost there.

With a final heave, Wufei burst through the bamboo that grew over the path and into the clearing before the monastery's massive stone gate. He lost his footing on the last step fell forward, Heero's body toppled over him and came to a sprawling stop. With a gasp, Heero's head lolled to one side; his eyes were open and his gaze found Wufei's.

"Heero . . ." Wufei leapt to his feet and bolted for the stone gate, seizing rope attached to the bell and yanking it with all his might. He pulled it again and again until finally the great door swung open and several bald men in orange and yellow robes emerged, but they stopped dead in their tracks as they came upon the sight before them.

"Please . . ." Wufei gasped, trying to catch his breath, "we're with Keiji, my friend . . ."

But the men were already bent over Heero, pulling off his jacket and shirt and lifting him off the ground. Wufei followed them into the monastery's courtyard, where several of the monks were yelling to the others, who disappeared into the buildings. At the same time an older man, his chin covered in a long, white beard emerged; he scanned the growing crowd, finally stopping as his eyes came to rest on Wufei, who recognized as the monastery's head abbot, Kavi. He started toward him, a look of concern upon his old face.

"What is it? What happened to the village?" He reached out and took one of Wufei's hands with both of his own, "We saw the smoke nearly two weeks ago, men in blue uniforms have been searching the mountains and we were forced to hide ourselves here, in the monastery."

"The Oprichniki," Wufei took a deep breath and tried to steal a glance toward Heero, who was obscured by the monks bent over him, "they found the village. We'd only just come back with Kimi today and –"

The old man's eyes widened for a moment, "Kimi? Kimi was with you?" He reached out and put a hand on Wufei's shoulder, panic in his eyes, "Where is she? What happened to Kimi?"

Wufei shook his head, "She . . ."

"Where is she?" A voice he barely recognized as Heero's croaked from the ground behind them. Wufei and Kavi spun around to face Heero, his face pulled tout with desperation, "What happened to her?"

"She . . ." Wufei took a breath and knelt down on the ground, "Relena fell, Heero . . . into the river."

Heero's eyes widened and Wufei rushed to speak before he could, "I'm going to look for her, the monks will take care of you."

Before Heero could protest, Wufei stood and turned back to Kavi, "Do you have some supplies here?"

"Of course, of course," Kavi nodded and gestured for Wufei to follow him.

Heero watched both of them go until a group of monks blocked his view. One of them was tapping on the top of his hand, there was a pinch of pain and moment later a warm sensation was spreading up his arm and into his chest, pulling him into sleep.

- - - - -

_There was a dull pain in the right side of his chest that quickly turned into stabbing pain but the sensation was not enough to fight through the grogginess that was still enveloping. Heero suddenly became aware of the fact that he was moving and despite all the physical reasons not to do so, he wrenched his eyes open. A yellowish light practically blinded him, dulled, then reappeared again and continued in this pattern; after a moment his eyes came back into focus and he realized he was lying flat on his back, being wheeled down a hallway lined with bland overhead lighting._

"_Doctor Filiberti, he's waking up!" a man's voice was barely audible over sudden roar sound that filled air as he continued to gain consciousness._

"_Damn it, give him another 10 cc's of morphine!" a woman yelled back from the other side of him._

"_His blood pressure's too low, Doctor," another female voice, this one far more panicked, yelled back. Whatever he was on was pushed through two doors and came to an abrupt stop in this new room._

_The first woman swore under her breath again and yelled back, "Get the transfusion started with O-neg; he's a Preventer, he should have an emergency card with his blood type on him somewhere so get type-specific as quickly as possible."_

_An instant later, a face appeared over his still blurry eyes. She shown a flashlight in his eyes for a moment, pulling back each of the lids, "Agent Yuy, I'm Doctor Filiberti, you're in Mohandas Gandhi Memorial Hospital," she paused to look at a clipboard one of the nurses had just shoved under her nose. "Yes that's fine, tell Dr. Inducci, the patient is critical and to have the OR prepped immediately." She turned back to Heero, "Agent Yuy, in a moment we're taking you upstairs, you need emergency surgery to stop the bleeding in your chest and leg. You also have a concussion –" _

_She stopped mid-sentence and leveled her eyes at his, "Heero, can you understand me?"_

_He tried to speak, but suddenly realized that his brain was not cooperating with his mouth. In that moment, Dr. Filiberti had seized the side of his face with one of her hands, while the other waved a single finger in front of his eyes, "Heero can you follow my finger? Do you know what day it is?"_

"_Day . . .?" He was taken aback by the weakness of his own voice, but Dr. Filiberti was not listening to him._

"_George, call up to Radiology, tell them I'm bringing up a patient for an emergency CT before he goes to the OR."_

"_Blood pressure's coming up with the transfusion, Doctor."_

"_Good, give him the morphine now."_

_Heero felt a rush to his head and the world blurred before his eyes, and shouting erupted around him again._

"_He's bleeding out, the bullet must have nicked the subclavian artery."_

"_Hang another unit."_

"_I've got the type-specific!"_

"_Put pressure on it, get me an S-clamp, then call up to the OR, tell Dr. Inducci we're coming up now!"_

"_The OR's slammed, they're saying they can't take us –"_

"_We're coming up now!"_

_The table started moving again, back out into the glaring light. They took a turn particularly fast and his head lolled to the side, giving him a full view of his surrounding for the first time since he'd woken up._

_It was chaos. Men and women in colored scrubs and white lab coats dashed through the hallway, carrying IV and blood bags, pushing carts, equipment, and tables with people on them. The floor was covered in streaks of blood and people sat along the walls, all of them injured and waiting for medical attention._

_The table he was on came to sudden stop and above him there was renewed yelling, but not from the people who were with him._

"_Her heart stopped again!"_

"_Start CPR, charge the paddles to 50!"_

"_Clear!" There was a jolting noise._

_Heero shifted his eyes to the direction of the commotion, but could not see around the crowd of medical personnel._

"_Nothing, charging to 60. Clear!"_

_Another jolting noise followed by a burst of frenzy._

"_We've got a pulse!"_

"_Call up to the OR, tell them we're bring her up right now. Pressure's 90 over 60, pulse is weak at –"_

_The crowd around her parted and the world came to a stop. It was Relena, she was the one lying on that table. The nurses and doctors bustled around her for a moment and then she disappeared around a corner._

_Heero looked at the floor through ever darkening eyes. It was speckled with droplets of red liquid, glistening like small gems in the light. Blood . . . Relena's blood . . . she . . . that's right, she had been shot . . . _

- - - - -

The entire riverbank looked the same, pebbly shores that ran up to rocky cliffs. Wufei lifted his head to look further down the river. He had found no trace of Relena. It had been over fours hours since she had fallen into the river. He followed the broken parts of the bridge and Oprichniki soldiers he could find, but both had grown thin as he continued down the river.

He'd been walking for almost three hours now; it was slow going, pausing every few hundred feet to investigate every crack and cave he came upon and hiding every time he heard something that might have been the Oprichniki. He shook his head, they might have already found Relena –

His thoughts were brought to an abrupt stop by something that connected with the back of his head and then clattered to the floor by his feet. Wufei lifted his head and tried to follow the trajectory of the object; it had come from behind him. He walked back cautiously, looking carefully over the cavern walls.

Something whizzed past him again but this time he was able to follow its path this time and after a moment of looking, found a small fissure in the rock, just wide enough for someone to fit through. He fumbled for his flashlight for a moment before shining it into the dark fissure. After a minute of searching, the light came to rest on a figure, sitting with its back up against the rock wall, one leg propped up by another rock.

"Can you put that down please?" Relena lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the light.

A wave of relief rushed over Wufei. He stepped into the crevasse and knelt in front of Relena, "I never would have found you in here."

She flinched when he touched her leg, "Heero? Where is he?"

"The monks are taking care of him."

Relena breathed a sigh, "He's all right then?"

He wasn't sure what to say, 'He was when I left' didn't seem as though it would be all that comforting. Wufei looked at her leg, which he now saw was wrapped with what looked like pieces of her jacket. "How did you . . .?"

"The man that was holding me," Relena's voice was suddenly strained, "I think he took most of the blast, but something got lodged in the back of my leg." She rolled onto her side to display a sharp fragment of wood protruding from her calf. "My back isn't in the best of shape either," Relena smiled sheepishly at him. "I hit the water pretty hard, but managed to swim to shore."

Wufei stood, reached for Relena's arm and pulled her to her feet. He gently put an arm around her waist and they started back out toward the river bed.

- - - - -

_Light fell on his eyes, stirring him from his sleep. Heero fought the groggy feeling that threatened to pull him back into unconsciousness and opened his eyes. The light that woke him assaulted his senses, causing him to squint into the brightness. A shadow stepped into the light allowing him to reorient himself._

"_Good, you're awake."_

_Zechs. Everything suddenly came rushing back to him and he lurched forward in the hospital bed. "Relena?! Where is she?!"_

_There was a scrapping noise as Zechs pulled a chair up next to his bed and sat down, giving Heero his first clear view of the man. He looked haggard to say the least. Dark circles lined his puffy eyes, his hair was pulled back into a frayed ponytail, and at least a day's worth of stubble covered his face._

_Heero felt his stomach pitch at his former rival's appearance; he looked like hell. Time seemed to slow, he watched Zechs' lips begin to form words, dreading what news they might bring._

"_Relena survived surgery." Zechs sat back in the chair, "She was on the operating table for over ten hours. Her heart stopped beating twice and they had to take extreme measures to resuscitate her."_

_Heero listened in stunned silence as the Lightning Count's voice faulted and for a fraction of a second his face betrayed the emotions he was feeling. But Zechs composed himself almost instantly, "She's in critical but stable condition right now."_

_Relief swept over Heero like nothing he had ever felt before, but even so he found himself afraid to ask the question he wanted to, "She'll . . . she'll be alright then?"_

_Zechs lifted his head to meet Heero's eyes and nodded, "Her doctors tell me that she should recover."_

_Heero let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding. His heart was still pounding in his chest and he did his best to calm it. Relena was alive, she was going to be fine. Despite his failure to keep her safe, she was going to be fine._

_He let himself fall back against the bed and instantly regretted it. A sharp pain shot through his chest and down into his arm and for the first time since he had woken up, Heero remembered that he had been injured as well. He looked down to find he had been left bare-chested, but most of the right side of his chest was covered in gauze, bandages, and medical tape; the other half was dotted with white electrodes. There was an IV in his left hand supplying him with saline and blood. A blanket was drawn up around his waist but he could tell that his left leg was set in a cast that went up to his mid-thigh. His head and indeed his entire body ached and he was sure that well over half of it was covered in bruises._

"_Try not to move around to much," Zechs' voice was surprisingly assertive. "You had to have surgery to repair some of the damage in your chest and leg. Your doctor said that you almost died from blood loss."_

_Heero only nodded in response. "As soon as they release me, I'll inform Une of my resignation."_

_To his surprise, Zechs' head shot up, an incredulous expression on his face. "You plan to resign as Relena's Head of Security?"_

_He was taken aback by the fact that Zechs sounded almost angry. Even more taken aback that the older man had not come into his room screaming for his head in the first place. "I didn't do my job properly and Relena almost died –"_

"_And because you feel guilty about that you're going to risk my sister's life further?" Zechs' eyes were set hard as stone but his voice was surprisingly calm._

_All Heero could do was gape at him, but to both his relief and dread, Zechs did not allow the silence to persist for long. "Do you or do you not want Relena to live to the age of nineteen?"_

"_Of course, I -"_

"_Then you'll stay on as her Head of Security," Zechs cut him off sharply. The older man then sighed and raked a hand through his hair, "I don't blame you for what happened to Relena."_

_Zechs stood from his chair and walked toward the window, leaving Heero with the impression that he suddenly did not want to look at him while he spoke. "I've read the preliminary reports and Chang and Po briefed me on the events they witnessed. You did your job . . . Relena was the one who didn't do what she was supposed to."_

_Heero shook his head, "I should of –"_

"_Should have what?" Zechs turned back to face him, "You planned to die to ensure that Relena would escape." He looked back to the window, "Not even I could have asked more of you than that."_

_Heero closed his eyes and took in what Zechs had just said. Relena had refused to leave because of him . . ._

"_She's very heavily sedated right now." Zechs suddenly stepped back from the window and picked up his coat from the chair, "You can see her when she's awake."_

_A thought struck Heero, "How long have I been asleep?"_

"_A little over a day." Zechs paused at the door, "You're doctor is probably waiting outside. I'll send her in."_

_Zech opened the door and sure enough, he was quickly elbowed out of the way by a frenzied looking woman who mumbled a few choice words for Zechs before bustling over to Heero's bed and checking the various machines that were attached to him. Heero ignored the doctor and waited for her to finish and leave him to his thoughts._

_Relena had almost died. She was lying in a hospital bed in this building somewhere attached to God-knows what kind of machines that were keeping her alive. He couldn't get the image of her out of his mind. The sound of the gunshot, the smell of the powder residue, the feeling of her slumped against his chest, her blood soaking through his shirt, and eyes . . . her eyes widened from the shock of the bullet that ripped through her chest, but clouded over with dull, lifeless appearance. The glimpse he had caught of her as they wheeled her into the operating room; her skin ashen and speckled with blood._

_He did this to her . . ._

- - - - -

Heero's eyes jolted open and his body jerked forward followed by an intense wave of pain that rushed through his abdomen and into his chest.

"Careful!" He spun in the direction of the voice. Wufei was over him almost immediately, forcing his shoulders back onto the futon mat. "You'll rip your stitches and bleed out again."

The room was dark, the rounded ceiling above them looked like rock covered in a thin layer of plaster. There were a dozen or so large candles on a table behind Wufei . . . they seemed to be underground.

"We're in one of the hidden caverns in the monastery; the monks put us here to hide us from the Oprichniki."

Heero's mind sorted through this information; the monastery, the Oprichniki . . . it him. "What happened to Relena? Where is she?!"

He must have lurched forward again because Wufei's hands were instantly on his shoulders, pushing his down once again, "She's right next to you."

He turned his head faster than he would have thought possible to the ground opposite he and Wufei. Relena's blonde hair was fanned out above her head. She was lying face down another mat next to his own; a blanket was drawn up only to her waist while her entire torso was wrapped tightly with gauze and bandages. Her face was a little paler than it should have been but other than that he couldn't see any outward signs of injury.

"The monks say that she'll be fine. Her back was badly burned in the explosion, but it should heal on its own." Wufei stood and walked to the table where the candles were and picked up a small bottle of what sounded like it contained pills. He shook a few out and in his and held them out to Heero. "You two are on the same anti-biotics regiment for at least another ten days," he handed Heero the pills. "So we won't be going anywhere for a while."

Wufei set the bottle down, "You've been asleep for almost two days. The monks had to perform surgery on you. They said that you suffered amazingly damage to your internal organs and they were able to repair most of it." He turned in the direction of what Heero assumed was the door, "I'm going to get someone to come look at you." Wufei turned around to give Heero a threatening glare, "_Do not_ try to get up."

Heero watched him leave before reaching for one of Relena's hands closing his eyes. Sleep enveloped him with unexpected strength.

- - - - -

_The wheels seemed to be crunching something as they crossed the tiled hospital floor, but for the life of him, Heero couldn't even begin to guess what it was. It was a stupid, insignificant thing to be considering at a time like this, but trying to figure out what his wheelchair was grinding into the ground under it was the only thing keeping him from losing his mind as what had to be the slowest nurse in history pushed he and his IV stand to Relena's room in the secure ward._

_It had been about twelve hours since Zechs had come to see him. A nurse, the nurse that was pushing his wheelchair, came into his room and told him that Relena was awake and asking for him. In his frenzy to get out of his bed and to Relena as quickly as possible, he had not had the time to consider what he would find there . . . now that was all he had to think about._

_It was strange, but now that he thought about, he'd never really had to visit someone in the hospital, not someone who was actually sick or injured anyway . . . He wasn't sure what to expect except a reprisal of the horrible images replaying in his mind of the last time he saw her . . . _

_They approached a set of double doors, with two Preventers officers standing in front of them; they stood aside and allowed them to pass without even a question. This wing was completely deserted, no doubt intentionally so both for security reasons and to allow the high profile ESUN members being treated here to recover in safety and peace. Zechs had told him that as the Vice-Foreign Minister, Relena was – Heero stopped – no, Relena was now the Foreign Minister . . . _

"_Agent Yuy, did you hear me?"_

_Heero's head shot up at the nurse's voice. His impulse was to simply grunt at her, but it was probably best that he stay on this woman's good side. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."_

_The nurse sighed, but did not seem frustrated, "I said that we're here." Sure enough they had stopped in front of a door with another two Preventers officers flanking either side of it. "I also said that Miss Peacecraft is conscious, but she is still very weak. She'll probably fall asleep again while you are with her." The nurse gave him a stern glare, "Don't try to stop her."_

_Heero only nodded in response, one of the two officers opened the door, and the nurse wheeled him in._

_The room was caked with that awful hospital smell, he could almost see it hanging in the air; the odd mixture of disinfectants, cleaning solutions, and a flowery smell they used in a vain effort to try to cover up the other two. The blinds were drawn to keep out the evening sun. The only light in the room came from a small lamp perched on the table next to the bed the sole occupant of the room was laying in._

_The nurse moved even more slowly now, apparently concerned that Relena had fallen asleep again already and did not want to disturb her. He however, could tell that she was awake and simply waiting for the nurse to leave them. The older woman wheeled him to the far side of her bed, so that his back was to the windows. With another whispered warning, she spun on her heels and left._

_No sooner had the door closed than Relena slowly opened her eyes and gently turned her head to face him, a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips. She looked worse than he ever could have prepared himself for. She was laid out flat on her back giving her already sickly appearance the suggestion of death. Her skin was white like he had never seen before; it looked like thin paper stretched over a skeleton and glistened with a fine layer of sweat. Needles stuck out of her arm while more were no doubt attached to the ends of the tubes that to her body under the blanket that covered her. Another tube was taped to her face, disappearing into her nostrils. The sockets of her eyes were dark purple but miraculously the irises they held sparkled their usual blue._

_Relena's smile widened as much as her weak muscles would allow and she lifted a thin, frail looking hand to him . . . and against everything that his mind was telling him, he took it._

_She tilted her head to better meet his eyes, "You . . . you're all right . . ." Her voice was barely more than a strained whisper._

_He was startled by the absence of her usually strong, yet gentle voice, but composed himself before she could see his reaction. "I'm fine . . ." despite his efforts, his voice faltered. "You . . . Relena, you almost died . . ."_

_She closed her eyes, "I . . . I'm sorry for going against procedure . . . an–and putting you in more danger." She paused, suddenly looking as though she were going to start coughing; panic seized him and he reached for her shoulder. But Relena just drew a long, shallow breath, steadying herself before she moved her hand to cover his own and lifted her head to meet his eyes. "But I am not sorry for what I did . . ." liquid filled her eyes, threatening to spill onto her cheeks, "I will not apologize . . . for saving my best friend's life . . ."_

_The breath left his chest. Relena gazed back at him, eyes fierce but clearly fading. He was torn between wanting to hold her and wanting to strangle her. Instead, he took her hand once more and tried to steady his voice. "Promise me, that you will never do anything like that again . . ." He let his head fall to his chest, suddenly unable to meet her eyes, "Promise that you won't ever put my well-being before your own ever again."_

"_No."_

_By the time he had lifted his head again her eyes were already closed and her weak grasp loosened around his fingers. Relena's breathing evened into a slow and shallow rhythm, but he did no let go of her hand. Seeing her like this had been horrible . . . but the thought of having to leave her now . . . _

_She looked like little more than a corpse and indeed that was almost what she had become. Without warning his mind began reliving the events of two days ago, but this time he was not consumed by what he saw, but rather by what he felt._

_Panic. Fear and terror like he had never experienced. Relena was dying in his lap and he was powerless to do anything to save her . . . the person in his life that he cared for most . . ._

_There was a knock at the door and next he knew he was being wheeled out of Relena's room and back to his own by the same, agonizingly slow nurse. 'The person in his life that he cared for most' . . . Had Relena always been that to him? The thought seemed completely foreign but somehow normal, as if it were a confirmation of something he'd always known. He always knew that he would give his life for Relena . . . but if she were to give hers for him . . ._

"_Heero!"_

_The woman's voice was followed by footsteps closing in on him at a rapid pace. The nurse had stopped; they both turned their heads to find the source of the sound. _

_Hilde rounded the corner they had just passed, panicked and out of breath. She stopped before them a look of relief washing across her face, then turned back to the direction she had just come from, "Duo! Duo, he's over here!"_

_There was a muffled yell in the distance, but Hilde ignored it and closed the distance that remained between them. There were tears in her eyes as she knelt down and closed both of her hands around the one of his that did not have the IV in it. "Relena?" she barely managed to croak out the words._

"_I just saw her," Hilde let out a shuddered breath and her head fell to her chest. "She's asleep now."_

"_But she's going to be okay?" there was evident desperation in Hilde's voice._

_Heero didn't get the chance to answer. Duo flung himself around the corner at that moment, coming to a dead stop upon witnessing the sight before him. Heero paused to consider that he hadn't seen his own reflection since arriving to the hospital . . . and considering the reactions he was getting, he must have looked like hell._

"_Heero . . ." Duo's voice trailed off as he approached. "Man, it . . ." For the time Heero could ever remember, Duo seemed to be without words, instead opting to gently clasp a hand around his shoulder._

_Hilde had started crying in earnest and Duo put his free arm around her shoulders, "We tried to get a shuttle here was soon as we heard . . . but with everything that happened, it took almost a day and a half before we could get on a flight that was going Earth."_

_Heero nodded, "Relena will be happy to see you."_

_At the mention of her name Hilde let out a strangled sob and Duo released his shoulder to embrace his girlfriend. "We couldn't find out anything from just the news." Duo turned himself so he could look at Heero while still holding Hilde, "So many ESUN members were killed or wounded that they haven't been giving a lot of specific information on each on . . . I tried to call Preventers but no one there would tell me anything and I couldn't get Wufei or Sally –"_

"_They've been at the crime scene site since it was secured." Heero was slightly surprised by how dead his own voice sounded, "All able-bodied Preventers in this district are pulling 16 hour shifts . . . digging out the destroyed parts of the building and identifying the bodies . . ."_

_Hilde drew a breath and stepped back from Duo, "Relena, can I see her?"_

"_Miss Peacecraft is resting." The nurse who Heero had almost forgotten was there answered in a stern but soft voice._

"_She would want to see Ms. Schbeiker," Heero turned to face her, "This woman isn't a security threat in any way. Tell the officers stationed in the closed ward that they should check for her on the Vice –" Heero paused to correct himself, "The _Foreign Minister's _clearance sheet and they'll find her name."_

_The nurse looked as though she were about to object, but only asked, "Can I trust that your friend will return you safely to your room then, Agent Yuy?"_

_Heero nodded curtly and the nurse took Hilde gently by the arm and led her back in the direction of Relena's room. As soon as they were out of sight, Duo spoke, "So Foreign Minister Bartlett is really dead?" _

"_He was one of the hostages they shot to prove they were serious."_

_Duo stepped to the back of the wheelchair and began pushing Heero down the hallway, "And Relena's the Foreign Minister now."_

"_They haven't been able to swear her in yet, but yes, she will as soon as she's able." Heero took a deep breath; there was another reason he had sent Hilde to see Relena. She was going to be the Foreign Minister now, in more danger than ever before and there was something he and Duo needed to discuss in regards to Relena._

"_Duo, I have a favor to ask of you."_

- - - - -

Someone was touching his face. He opened his eyes slowly and turned his head toward the source of the sensation. Relena's clear blue eyes stared back at him in the dim candle light; she smiled and let her hand slip from his face down to his neck, "You were having a bad dream."

Before he could say anything in reply, Relena slowly lifted the top half of her body up and shifted from her futon on to his. He moved over a bit to accommodate her; she settled herself back down on her stomach and gently rested her head on his shoulder, wincing a little as she did. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, but did not want to risk hurting her and was forced to content himself with taking one of her hands.

"I'm not hurting you, am I?" her voice was laced with concern.

Heero made a sound that was somewhere between a sort and a dry laugh, "To be honest, even if you were, I can't feel a thing with the painkillers the monks must be giving me."

Relena laughed, "We're quite a pair here, huh?"

He nodded, but worry quickly overtook the somewhat jovial mood, "Does your back hurt?"

He felt her shake his head into his shoulder, "The burns, really aren't that bad, but Kavi said that I should try to stay off my feet for at least a few days and let it heal as much as possible. It's my leg that's really been –"

"What happened to your leg?" His voice came out more forcefully than he had intended it to and he could practically feel Relena's face make that expression she always did when she was trying to keep something from him.

"N-nothing serious," she laughed a little in an effort to brush off the situation, "just a few stitches."

Heero closed his eyes and sighed, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the emotions that were bombarding him from ever part of his brain. She had almost died, _again_, once more selflessly putting her own life on the line in order to save his. This wasn't how things were supposed to be.

Relena must have noticed something because she shifted against his side and squeezed his hand. "Heero? Is something wrong?"

"Wufei told me what you did, Relena." He turned to lock eyes with her, "You could have died."

"But I didn't." Her voice was suddenly set in hard resolve.

"Just by luck!" Desperation won out against all of the other thousands of emotions fighting for dominance within him at that moment, "You couldn't have known that you would survive blowing up the bridge you were standing on and falling into the river."

"I didn't know –"

"Were you planning to die?" The question echoed off the stone walls and hung in the air.

Relena's eyes widened for barely a moment before instantly narrowing again, "I was planning to save you and Wufei."

Heero felt his throat close and after a moment Relena continued, but her voice was far less certain now than it was just seconds before, "Heero . . . I . . ." she let out a breath to compose herself, "When Sean shot you, for just an instant, I thought that you had died . . . and I have never been scared before in my life."

She lifted her head to meet his eyes and Heero was shocked to find hers glistening with tears, "I'm so sorry, Heero."

He shook his head, suddenly flustered by her apparent distress, "Sorry for wha –"

"For everything," she answered in a whisper. "For leaving you, for not coming back, for letting you think something horrible had happened to me, for making you come find me, and then for not telling you everything when I was given the chance to."

_Everything?_ Heero felt a wave of dread wash over him, what else could she possibly have been keeping from –

"I love you, Heero." The tears had stopped but she still looked so sad . . . "I've probably loved you since I was fifteen years old. You're best friend and for so long you were the only constant in my life that I could completely rely on." Tears started to run down her cheeks again, "I know that it is no excuse for everything that I've done and there are so many reasons behind my actions . . . but despite everything I told myself and every other legitimate, real reason for what I did . . . at the end of all of it . . . I did it because I love you . . . and because I wanted you to be safe . . ."

His face must not have been conveying what he was feeling because Relena's expression suddenly crumbled from remorsefulness to one of disgrace and shame. With a strangled sob, she pulled away from him; but that movement was enough to bring him out of his stupor and ignoring the ache that rose in his abdomen, he sat up and reached for her shoulder, pulling her back so that they sat facing each other for a moment before he pulled her into a gentle kiss.

They separated and Heero quickly drew Relena against him. "When you first disappeared, there were so many things that I promised myself I would tell you if I was just given the chance . . ." Heero closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the pillow, "And then, here it was . . . and I didn't."

"I didn't give you the chance to, Heero," Relena's voice was barely above a whisper, "I was afraid to open up too much to you. You've been trying to get closer to me and I've been keeping you at arms length." Relena choked back another small sob, "Even after everything I put you through when I left, I still couldn't, wouldn't . . ."

He clutched her tighter against him, "I never gave you a reason to think you could tell me these things, Relena." He tangled his hand in her hair, "I never told you how important you were to me. I never told you how much I cared about you . . . and because of that, I think I never allowed myself to realize that I love you."

Heero reached down to cup Relena's face and tilt it up so that were facing each other again, "I love you and I don't want everything that has happened to us to get in the way of that anymore."

Her eyes filled with water again but this time she was smiling, "I love you too, Heero. I don't want our lives to be a continuation of what they were." Relena lifted her head to press her lips against his then settled back down on the futon next to him.

Heero looked down at her; peaking out above the bandages that covered her chest was the same long pink scar that had marred her pristine skin for five years now. Before he knew what he was doing, his fingers were tracing the mark that for so long had only been a reminder of how he had almost lost her. Now however he finally understood it to be something more.

Every time Relena looked in the mirror, this scar reminded her of what she was willing to sacrifice for the man that she loved . . . and now it would always do the same for him.

- - - - -

Trowa's head snapped up. He turned to his left where Ickes wore a similar expression of shock. Across the table from him, two of their newly acquired "comrades" laughed, oblivious to the identities of the four men they were eating with in the temporary mess hall. He, Ickes, York, and Lancaster had been traveling with this Leon's Army detachment for nearly a month. It was slow going, they were moving an entire legion across a continent. On top of this were the continuous stops and distractions. The commanding officers were constantly delaying the army's progress south by insisting that they stop in every major city within one hundred miles of their route.

Their slow pace was maddening; even the Leon's Army soldiers who weren't rushing to infiltrate the enemy capital in near futile hope of rescuing the woman he loved were being driven crazy by their lack of speed. But that wasn't what he should be thinking about now. Trowa looked from Ickes to the two men eating across the table from them. He tried to make his voice as casual as possible all the while convincing themselves that he and Ickes _must _have misheard them.

"Hey, what did you guys just say?"

Both stopped their conversation and looked to him, "What? You didn't hear?" the one on his left appeared stunned.

"Why don't you enlighten us?" Ickes quipped beside him and Trowa made a mental note to discuss masking his tone of voice later.

"The Supreme Commander," Trowa did everything in his power not to scoff at the absurd title Josef had given himself, "his elite little Oprichniki pretty boys, kidnapped the Preventer's Commander's daughter."

- - - - -

Une let out a shuddered breath and set down the glass of water she was holding. She shook her head in disgust with herself – It was nearly one o'clock in the morning, her daughter had been kidnapped, and she couldn't even pull herself together enough to leave her office. After Noin had called to tell her that Mari had disappeared, her friend's next call was Duo Maxwell.

Duo . . . Une shook her head. The man had caused her more trouble than his entire department put together, but he always came through for her. Duo had left for the Sanq Kingdom and immediately taken control of the investigation from Lucrezia. The news wasn't good. These people were smart, they had taken the GSP locator out of Mari's car and attached it to another vehicle setting Preventers back significantly in their search. They had no leads. The last time Mari had been seen, she was leaving the Sanq Kingdom Palace in her car. The camera's watched them leave the gate and then nothing. Their only clue was a man on an antique motorcycle that abruptly left the Palace's check point line.

This man had been the focus of their investigation . . . until Anthony Gord turned up missing as well. No one had seen or heard from him in over 24 hours, the night before Mari was kidnapped when he called in to Palace. As best Duo and his team could tell, Anthony realized what was happening and pursued Mari's kidnappers; but from there, both trails went cold.

Une closed her eyes as another wave of tears threatened to overwhelm her. Mari, her daughter, her only family had been taken by to who knows what God-forsaken part of the globe by people that wanted to hurt her. She had sent Mari to the Sanq Kingdom so that she would be safe, not so this could happen. She had failed her as her guardian . . . as her mother . . .

Even now, she was still in Brussels. Maybe she should have gone to the Sanq Kingdom, maybe she should leave now – No. Une steadied herself; no, she couldn't leave now. There was little doubt in her or Duo's mind that Mari had been taken out of the country. Duo was in the Sanq Kingdom to oversee the investigation of the kidnapping – she was in Brussels to oversee the search. Half of the Preventers in the Europe were looking for Mari, while an entire division of L-10 troops were setting up check points at every major border. They would find something, they had to find something . . .

A soft knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts and before she could tell whoever it was to go away, Edward Cordell slowly pushed it open and entered. "Commander?"

Une immediately straightened in her seat and shoved the small pile of tissues that littered her desk into the waste paper bin. Judging from the expression on Edward's face however, her efforts were in vain. "What is it, Dr. Cordell?"

Edward just stared at her for a moment before apparently coming to himself and stepping toward her desk, "Oh yes. Yes, I'm very sorry to disturb you Commander."

He approached her desk, but instead of sitting in one of the chairs in front of it like he usually did, he crossed around to the other side until he was standing in front of her. She couldn't look at his face, she couldn't meet the expression she knew would be there. It was not pity, no Edward knew better than to ever pity her . . . it was the understanding that she didn't want to see.

"Anne?" She reflexively lifted her head at her name. Cordell knelt in front of her chair, and put a hand over hers, "Anne, they'll find Mari."

Une raised her eyes to meet Cordell's and in that instant something broke; she felt her face crumble and tears begin to sting her eyes, "What if they don't?" she shook her head, "She's my little girl Edward. How could I let something like this happen to her?"

"You didn't let anything happen to her," Cordell stood and reached into the pocket of his blazer and produced a cell phone and held it out to her, "Agent Maxwell is on the phone asking for you, he says he has some information."

He barely finished the sentence before Une leaped out of her chair and seized the phone from him. She flipped it open and held it to her ear, "Maxwell, what is it?"

There was a roar of sound from the other side and she could barely make out Duo's voice, "Commander? Commander, can you hear me?"

"Where are you, Duo?" her stomach dropped, he sounded like he was standing in the middle of a tornado, what could such an environment have to do with Mari?

"I can hardly hear you," Une pursed her lips, apparently he couldn't hear her at all, "it's storming out here like you wouldn't believe."

She was growing impatient now, "What did you find Agent Maxwell?!"

"It's Mari's car, Commander," Une's hear skipped a beat, "we found it about fifteen miles from the palace off of a side road."

"And?" She was ready to jump out of her skin.

"Anthony," Duo's voice was drowned out by a rush of wind.

"What did you say?"

Duo must have been screaming at the top of his lungs, "I said that they shot him in the head and he's in really bad shape, but he's still alive."


End file.
